Crisis impulse + access to lethal means = suicide

In reading a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine (I used to read it regularly, now it is rare that I do. I now follow links I come across or am sent, in this case via the NAME listserv) entitled: Guns and Suicide in the United States.

The points I’d like to highlight here, don’t so much have to do with guns, however the point that guns contribute to suicide seems to be valid to me as well as the authors of this review article. I think some of the information, similar to what I have covered before, bears laying down here:

…many suicidal acts – one third to four fifths of all suicide attempts, according to studies – are impulsive…
…many suicidal crises are self-limiting. Such crises are often caused by an immediate stressor…

Now that is not to belittle underlying depression and other mental illnesses as significant contributors to suicide, but the ultimate crisis of unbearable pain and/or need for deliverance is very often precipitated acutely. But do keep in mind that that is not always the case; suicide can be a result of a devolution of their psychic condition. This acute crisis paradigm tells us that we can prevent suicide in some cases by limiting access to readily accessible lethal means and that this fact must be considered in any programmatic attempt to prevent suicide deaths.

Too many seem to believe that anyone who is serious enough about suicide to use a gun [you could add in here any number of suicide methods] would find an equally effective means if a gun were not available. This belief is invalid…
Effective suicide prevention should focus not only on a patient’s psychological condition but also on the availability of lethal means – which can make a difference between life and death.