Myths

MYTHS ABOUT SUICIDE

By Alice Baland, MA, LPC, RD/LD

Discussing suicide will cause the client to move toward doing it.
Clients who threaten suicide don’t do it.
Suicide is an irrational act.
Persons who commit suicide are insane.
Suicide runs in families—it is an inherited tendency.
Once suicidal, always suicidal.
When a person has attempted suicide and pulls out of it, the danger is over.
A suicidal person who begins to show generosity and share personal possessions is showing signs of renewal and recovery.
Suicide is always an impulsive act.
Children under the age of 6 do not commit suicide.
Suicide in the latency years (ages 6 - 12) is extremely rare.
Psycho-dynamically and developmentally, true depression is not possible in childhood.
A child cannot understand the finality of death.
Children are cognitively and physically incapable of implementing a suicide plan successfully.

Should someone you know be experiencing suicidal thoughts, plans, intent, despair, hopelessness or depression, get professional help immediately. If no one is available, call 911 or take the person to a hospital and call their treatment team.