Myths & Truths About Suicide

Only a health professional can help a person considering suicide.

Everyone can help

Talking about suicide increases the risk.

It's always worth checking in if you're concerned. Your questions show you care, and not asking can make someone feel neglected.

We should let a person considering suicide ask for help on their own.

A person considering suicide doesn’t always have the energy to ask for help.

Deaths by suicide happen without warning.

People who are considering suicide generally show warning signs. These signs include talking about wanting to die, withdrawing from social activities, extreme mood swings, or risky behaviors. Recognizing these warning signs can save lives and empowers friends and family to intervene effectively. 

People who talk about suicide are just seeking attention.

Any mention of suicidal thoughts should be taken seriously as it often indicates significant distress. Recognizing and addressing these behaviors is crucial for timely intervention and risk reduction.

Only people with mental health concerns consider suicide.

While mental health concerns like depression and anxiety increase suicide risk, they are not the only factors. Life events, stressors, trauma, and substance abuse can also contribute to suicidal thoughts. It's important to consider the broader context of an individual's life, not just diagnosed conditions.

Only certain types of people have thoughts of suicide.

Though some populations have higher risk, anyone could have suicidal thoughts – no matter how popular, successful, or healthy, and even if they do not seem to have any “problems.” Suicide occurs across all age and demographic groups.

Someone who engages in self-harm always have thoughts of suicide.

While self-harm behaviors can be a risk factor for future suicidality, many people who engage in these behaviors do not have suicidal thoughts or intent. Suicidal thoughts are often focused on escaping and ending pain; self-harm behaviors are often described as an escape from emotional numbness and a desire to feel or distract from distress. Still, self-harm behaviors are not a sustainable coping strategy and should be addressed with a counselor or other trusted person.

Preventing suicide is impossible. Once someone develops thoughts of suicide, its already too late.

Many people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts tend to exhibit warning signs. Intervening when these warning signs appear and connecting someone experiencing suicidal thoughts to resources can be life-saving.

Getting help will cause me to lose my security clearance.

Less than 2% of revoked or denied clearances are for psychological problems. In the vast majority of situations, getting counseling or treatment is an indicator of the good reliability and judgment required for clearances. Failure to seek help and allowing problems to impact performance, conduct and finances, is more likely to lead to clearance loss. Marital, family, or grief counseling (not related to violence by the applicant and unless the treatment was court-ordered) and any counseling for post combat deployment concerns are not required to be reported on the security clearance form SF 86. While other counseling or psychological treatment is currently still required to be reported by the applicant on the SF 86 form, this merely leads to an extra step in the clearance process, and rarely results in denial or revocation of one's clearance.