Means Restriction: South Dakota Suicide Prevention

Means restriction as a response for the prevention of suicidal behaviour
An important piece of any suicide prevention program is reducing access to lethal means or means restriction. Means restriction is an effort to limit or eliminate the ability for a person at risk of suicide to access the means for their suicide plan (South Dakota Suicide Prevention, 2015). The method people use in suicide depends on its availability and accessibility (Eddleston, Karunaratne, Weerakoon et al, 2006 in Barber & Miller, 2014). Restricting access to means, saves lives when people who cannot readily obtain a highly lethal method either attempt with a method less likely to prove fatal or do not attempt at all (Barber & Miller, 2014). Means restriction as a prevention …show more content…
The noose made from an electrical cord was dismantled by first responders and hidden in her apartment. Means restriction was in this case unachievable as there were many electrical cords and cables in her apartment. To view means restriction as a total remedy, is reductionist (Sinyor, Shaffer, Cheung, 2013). Sinyor, Shaffer, Cheung (2013) state we cannot bubble wrap our society as means restriction will never be able to tackle hanging. This highlights the importance of early identification and intervention, before an at-risk individual reaches a crisis point (McPhedran & Kolves, …show more content…
Yip et al (2012) believes that the removal or modification of an object would have the greatest effect on suicide rates and social educational interventions have limited value because they necessitate concerted and sustained actions by many individuals (Yip et al, 2012). The general argument against means restriction is that individuals will simply switch to other methods of suicide (means substitution). However studies have shown that restricting one method does not immediately lead to an individual taking on a new method (Yip et al, 2012). Many suicidal persons do not take on another method, if they do generally the means chosen are less lethal. People who do attempt suicide with less dangerous means have an increased chance of survival (Yip et al 2012). A study in Denmark by Nordentoft, Qin, Helweg-Larsen, Juel et al (2007) indicates that after reducing some often used dangerous compounds (barbiturates, carbon monoxide gas, and dextropropoxyphene) the overall suicide mortality was reduced. Furthermore, there was limited indication that individuals put off my one method, took up another with an equally high morbidity rate. If access to highly lethal methods of suicide are reduced and if and when substitution occurs, the number of people who survive suicide attempts will be increased

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Means Restriction: South Dakota Suicide Prevention

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