Responding to Suicidal Thoughts

This week, Brett Newcomb and I are talking about an issue that is very frightening for most people who have encountered it: suicide. There are many myths about suicide. One in particular is that if you discuss it with the person involved, they are more likely to harm themselves. This is not true. If you talk with them about what they are thinking or feeling, they are more likely not to act on it.
Doctors sometimes encounter patients who claim that they are suicidal. In the previous couple of weeks, I had two clients who came in after receiving testosterone replacement pellets and share with me that prior to receiving the pellets, they had decided that if the treatment did not work, they would kill themselves. They no longer thought they could bear to live. Happily, they both felt that the treatments had restored them and put their lives back on track. But, this conversation with the two patients led me to discuss it with Brett, who has had more extensive training and experience with suicidal individuals.