Suicide Risk Professions: Suicide is one of the most serious mental health challenges in the world today. This is not only a personal tragedy but a problem affecting the whole society. Recently, Dr. Matthew Nock, a well-known psychologist and professor at Harvard University, has shared some facts on this subject, which have increased concern among mental health experts.

Dr. Nock, who is also the director of Clinical and Developmental Research Laboratory, says that there are some special profession in which the risk of suicide has been found manifold compared to other professions.

Global figures related to suicide

According to Dr. Nock, about 15 percent of people in America think about suicide at some time. About one-third of these people also attempt suicide and the most shocking thing is that one of those who once tried suicide tries again. However, most people also regret immediately after survival. These figures show that suicide is not only the result of mental problem, but also a result of complex social and professional pressures.

In which profession is the most danger?

According to experts, the risk of suicide is found more in the professions where people continue to work between stress, trauma and responsibilities, and at the same time have easy access to dangerous means. Prominent involved professions are police officers, first response (Fire Fighters, Medical Emergency Employees), doctors and healthcare workers, soldiers and other service members.

The daily life of people working in these professions is full of dangerous conditions, emergency situations and difficult decisions. This is the reason why it has a profound effect on mental health.

Three major reasons behind suicide

Dr. Nock has also given three main reasons to explain the increasing danger of suicide in these professions, which are as follows-

Access to dangerous means- Police and soldiers have weapons, while doctors and nurses have powerful medicines, which make the work easier. The availability of these means increases the possibility of suicide manifold.

Stressful work and circumstances- Police and soldiers facing circumstances like crime, violence, war or doctors working among patients suffering from serious illnesses, all live in a constant traumatic environment.

Demographic factors- Especially the threat of suicide has been found to be even more on women officials. They have to face professional pressure as well as social and family pressures.

Reality and figures

Giving the example of New York City Police Department, Dr. Nock said that the graph of suicides there suddenly increased very fast. Similarly, many research suggests that the suicide rate in healthcare workers is much higher than the general population.

Technology role in prevention of suicide

During the discussion, Dr. Nock also said that in the coming time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can prove to be helpful in prevention of suicide. Casted patterns can be identified through machine learning. However, he also gave a clear warning that it can be dangerous to depend only on AI, as these technology sometimes make big mistakes.

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