Why is it so Hard for Us to Recover from Being Suicidal?

By David L. Conroy, PhD

Combat veterans, sexual assault survivors, and other victims of trauma are vulnerable to a condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). People with PTSD suffer from a range of symptoms that interfere with their capacities to enjoy normal life.

People who suffered suicidal conditions, particularly conditions that were chronic, recurrent, or included one or more attempts, may also be victims of PTSD. According to its definition, PTSD may result when a person suffers an event or situation that is outside the range of normal experience, exceeds the individual’s perceived ability to meet its demands, and poses a serious threat to the loss of life.

Suicidal people meet the formal criteria for PTSD. Severe and prolonged suicidal pain is not something that most people suffer. People in suicidal crises feel that they are at the breaking point of what they can cope with. Since 30,000 people die by suicide each year in the United States, it is a condition that poses a serious threat to the loss of life.

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The Many Faces and Facets of Bipolar Disorder

The Many Faces and Facets of Bipolar Disorder – Full pdf file including pictures and personal stories

Bipolar disorder can show up in many costumes. It can be happy or sad, euphoric or desperate, energized or exhausted. It can party until dawn, unleash unparalleled creativity, and woo strangers. It can also terrify store clerks, drain bank accounts, and drive away loved ones. It can bring on the voices of heaven or hell.

More than two million American adults, or about 1 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year, have bipolar disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The illness typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. It is often not recognized as an illness-instead chalked up to a personality quirk or diagnosed as unipolar depression-and people may suffer for years before they receive proper treatment.

Bipolar disorder is one of the most complex forms of mental illness-each case is unique to the particular patient. It’s not like the flu, in which the illness takes a predictable path, or even cancer, where a “cure” is always hoped for in spite of the unpredictability of the disease. There is no fail-safe remedy for bipolar disorder, and the symptoms of the diagnosis can often change throughout the life of the individual.
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Complications of Bipolar Disorder

Behavioral & Emotional Effects of Manic Episodes
A small percentage of bipolar disorder patients demonstrate heightened productivity or creativity during manic phases. More often, however, the distorted thinking and impaired judgment that are characteristic of manic episodes can lead to dangerous behavior, including:

• Spending money with reckless abandon, causing financial ruin in some cases
• Angry, paranoid, and sometimes violent behaviors
• Openly promiscuous behavior

Such behaviors are often followed by low self-esteem and guilt, which are experienced during the depressed phases. During all stages of the illness, patients need to be reminded that the mood disturbance will pass and that its severity can be diminished by treatment.

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The Mental Health Impact of Rape

The National Women’s Study produced dramatic confirmation of the mental health impact of rape. The study determined comparative rates of several mental health problems among rape victims and non-victims. The study ascertained whether rape victims were more likely than non-victims to experience these devastating mental health problems.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The first mental health problem examined was posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an extremely debilitating disorder occurring after a highly disturbing traumatic event, such as military combat or violent crime.

• Almost one-third (31%) of all rape victims developed PTSD sometime during their lifetime; and more than one in ten rape victims (11%) still has PTSD today.
• Rape victims were 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who had never been victims of crime (31% vs 5%).
• Rape victims were 5.5 times more likely to have current PTSD than those who had never been victims of crime (11% Vs 2%).

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are approximately 96.3 million adult women in the United States age 18 or older. If 13% of American women have been raped and 31% of rape victims have developed PTSD, then 3.8 million adult American women have had rape-related PTSD (RR-PTSD):

• If 11% of all rape victims have PTSD, then an estimated 1.3 million American women have RR-PTSD.
• If 683,000 women are raped each year, approximately 211,000 will develop RR-PTSD annually.

Other Mental Health Problems

Major depression is a problem affecting many women, not just rape victims. However, 30% of rape victims had experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lifetimes, and 21% of all rape victims were experiencing a major depressive episode at the time of assessment.
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Cartoon: Do You Have a Plan?