According to recent surveys, around 50% of people in Pakistan’s urban areas are suffering from depression and a lot of them are undiagnosed. Depression is a mood disorder and is often associated with extreme feelings of sadness. Depression however has many faces and more often than not people with depression can maintain very functional lives. This however does not mean that these people are not impacted by depression like the other cases of non-functional depression.
These people in fact are at more risk for irrational acts like self-harm and suicide. In this article, we are listing down four signs of depression that might not indicate anything serious on the surface level but are actually indicators of suicidal tendencies and people depicting these signs need urgent help from a psychiatrist.
Withdrawal
One of the main signs of a person considering suicide is withdrawal. The person is likely to withdraw from friends and family and will stop hanging out. Isolation should always be taken seriously and friends and family should try their best to reach out to a person who is withdrawing. Sometimes withdrawal is a testing phase and if a person’s withdrawal does not bring concern in people around him/her, he/she is likely to cement their idea of suicide and go through with it.
Sudden Calmness
A person who has made his or her mind about suicide will also display a certain sense of calmness. Since this person has decided to leave everything behind, everyday worries do not concern them. These people are likely to go from a state of hypertension to a serene state especially while dealing with a traumatic experience such as getting fired or separating from a partner. If any of your loved ones show such calmness, you should consult a consult a psychiatrist unless there are obvious reasons for it. Trauma is hard to deal with and it is unlikely that a person just gets over trauma without any professional help.
Wrapping things up
A person considering suicide will also display a sense of finishing things off. This wrapping up procedure can include surprise visits to family and friends. Some people also clean their room or apartment and also give up their personal possessions such as clothes and shoes. Some people also write a note which generally depicts extreme hopelessness.
Changes in personality
Changes in personality are also very common in people who are considering suicide. Such people are likely to take a 180-degree shift and can go from being highly extroverted to withdrawn and introverted. Extreme changes in appearance such as cutting hair is also a sign of suicidal tendencies. Some people can also stop caring about their appearance.
All of the symptoms are clear signs of a person who is planning suicide. If you have noticed these signs in someone around you, you should try and reach out but make sure that you get them professional help instead of dealing with the problem yourself since counseling a suicidal person is a tough task and can go wrong very easily and you can end up making matters worse.
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This article was produced in partnership with oladoc.com, a digital health company in Pakistan. Using oladoc, you can best psychiatrists in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi, and book an appointment online.
