Week 6 Discussion: Assessing Potential Lethality
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”
-Fred Rogers
Suicide is a difficult topic for many to talk about. Experiencing a crisis may lead people to consider suicide, and they may not know how to explicitly share how they are feeling. It is important for human service professionals to feel comfortable with the topic of suicide and confident in their ability to assess potential lethality and intervene with the appropriate level of care. For this discussion, you will consider your own readiness to discuss this topic with a service user as well as intervention strategies to address suicidal ideation, intent, and plan.
Reference:
Palmer, S. (2018, August 2). 10 Mister Rogers quotes to give you hope for the world again.Links to an external site.
To Prepare
Review the Learning Resources and Course Announcements
Reflect on the following scenarios. Choose one, and then consider how you might intervene with Paul or Shanice.
Scenario 1: Paul is a 65-year-old, Caucasian male who is a recent widow after his wife of 45 years passed away from cancer. Paul admits that he has been struggling to manage his grief and admits that he has been having suicidal thoughts since his wife died.
Scenario 2: Shanice is a 15-year-old, African American female whose parents are divorcing. She is not performing well in school, “got dumped” by her boyfriend, and reports to you that “I just don’t want to be here anymore.”
By Day 4
Post the following:
Describe the feelings you experience when thinking about working with a service user who may be suicidal and whether your approach and assessment may be different based on the age, race, or gender of the person in distress.
Identify and describe suicidal ideation suicidal intent and suicidal plan. Explain whether one might be present without the others.
State whether you chose Paul or Shanice’s scenario and identify the intervention and assessment model you would use. Explain what questions you would ask to assess their suicidality based on the scenario you chose.
Look up the duty to warn laws where you live. (You can find this online.) Explain how you would consider your response concerning duty to warn.
Finally, explain how you would intervene to address the suicidal thoughts and the grief the individual is experiencing in the scenario you chose.
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