Saved by the Clock: Suicide Prevention
by Kevin Burke
Content Warning: This blog post will discuss suicide and includes a retelling of the author’s own experience with a thwarted suicide attempt. This article will also discuss firearms and other lethal means used in suicide.
It’s September—the leaves are beginning to shift their hue, everything is pumpkin spice flavored, and everywhere you look there are reminders of change and the steady march of time. September is also National Suicide Prevention Month, and when it comes to suicide, time should be on our minds.
In about 2012, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. A combination of career troubles, job termination, the break-in of my car mid-move and the resulting theft of five years worth of writing and art, the ending of a relationship, the unhealthy nature of said relationship, and a full set of matching baggage and unprocessed trauma that had piled on over at least a decade all led up to this point. In that moment, I genuinely felt the people I cared about, and the world at large, would be better off without me in it. I got lucky though. I received what I can only describe as a well timed text, “I’m worried about you,” that was enough to give me pause. More importantly, that pause gave me time. Time that abruptly made me reflect and reevaluate. Time that snapped me back to reality.
As discussed in the vlog post on the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (link found below) I was in the dangerous headspace of feeling like I didn’t belong and, more importantly, feeling like I was causing pain to those around me by being a burden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4httSMVq9I
It took a good amount of therapy to fully pull me from the depths of depression and negative self-concept I was sinking in. But how do we pull someone back to the surface when they are drowning in that crucial moment where their life is on the line? In short, time.
Studies show that most suicidal crises are short-lived and actually diminish rapidly. In fact, about 1 in 4 suicides occur within five minutes of the decision to act. These surges of emotion can trip our sympathetic nervous system into action which virtually shuts down much of our logical and self-reflective abilities. This can lead to impulsivity, cognitive impairment, and overwhelming psychological pain. The good news is emotions are temporary, so long as they are given the space to be felt. This is especially the case for our nervous system. The autonomic nervous system (of which the sympathetic nervous system is a part of) can only sustain emotional overload for a limited time. These intense feelings often peak and then subside like a passing wave. In other words, even a brief pause can mean the difference between life and death.
One of the most effective and evidence-based strategies in suicide prevention is the concept of “time-based prevention”. Time-based prevention is as simple as it sounds—create time and space between the person in crisis and potentially fatal action. What this looks like practically is delaying access to lethal means. Take firearms for example. Firearms are the number one method of suicide in the US. If there are guns in the home of someone who may be in crisis, how easily are those guns to access? When it comes to guns, one recommended way to use time to our advantage is having the guns secured in a safe. Additionally, gun cable locks can be added to the firearms in the home. Cable locks are extremely inexpensive, readily available, and add the time of getting the keys and removing a small cable that physically stops the gun from even being loaded. Keeping the keys in a separate place from where the guns are stored adds time as well. I’ve even heard it suggested, especially if the owner of the firearm is in a low place, to freeze the keys in a container of water kept in the freezer to add the time it would take to thaw the keys out to access them.
As far as folks go who would throw their arms up at this notion, protesting that this would get in the way of home defense, I would refer you to the numerous members of law enforcement (including SWAT team members I have cross-trained with) who acknowledge that a security system and a plan of action is far more effective, and less dangerous, than the Hollywood idea of suddenly becoming an action star when you’re woken up in the middle of the night. I’d also refer you to Bill Burr’s bit of the same spirit in his latest special. Moreover, the statistics don’t lie—firearms are the number one method for suicide in the US. Point being, adding a minute or two to accessing your guns will not get in the way of a hunter’s trip or a hobby marksman’s range day. More importantly, this minor inconvenience greatly outweighs the danger of easily accessible, lethal means for anyone who may be in crisis.
When it comes to saving lives from suicide, time is on your side. Be it delaying access to lethal means, or adding time on the clock by sitting with and listening to someone in crisis. There is no easy fix to preventing suicide. Instead, it is a combination of useful strategies that starts with awareness, drives forward with empathy, intervenes using time in crucial moments, and finally finding support and healing in therapy for long term wellness. If you or someone you know is struggling to stay afloat in these troubled waters, please reach out. We are all each other’s best resource. Reach out to those struggling. Reach out when you need help yourself. Just reach out. Remember, time is on your side if you let it be.
If you or someone you know is in crisis dial 988 for suicide prevention hotline.
Additionally, here at Unbroken Family Counseling, we have clinicians (including myself) who have experience working with clients struggling with suicidal ideation.