Pets Help with Suicide Prevention (via Red Bluff Daily News)

Pets Help with Suicide Prevention

By Rick Silva

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2024 48,824 Americans killed themselves. The number of people who think about, or attempt, suicide is even higher. That same year, an estimated 14.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million planned a suicide.

Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death overall in 2024 and the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10–14, 15–24, and 25–34 in the United States, a fact many people do not like to talk about. I bring this up because September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Psychologist and leading expert on suicide, Thomas Joiner, believes suicides usually result from two psychological processes. The first is perceived burdensomeness, the belief that you have become a burden to others. The other is thwarted belongingness, his term for social isolation. We know suicide is predicted by factors which include depression and feelings of being alone. Negative thoughts can become habitual and self-fulfilling, causing a feeling of utter hopelessness. Those who struggle with depression or other mental health issues, because of the perceived stigma, will often not seek help. Thus, people are more likely to want to commit suicide if the following three factors join to form a “perfect storm”: a feeling that they do not belong; an idea they are a burden to others; and a sense of hopelessness that these conditions will never change… (Read more)