Tag Archive for: support

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month  – Support for Persons at Elevated Risk for Suicide > United States Coast Guard > My Coast Guard News

/in




If you are close to someone who has experienced a recent suicidal crisis and who may not be fully recovered. How do you think about their risk and what kind of support can you provide?  It is likely that you or someone else played a key role in encouraging their pursuit of urgent mental health care and/or a formal suicide risk assessment. Regardless of what the risk was assessed to be at the time, it is important to know suicide risk is dynamic and subject to change based on a variety of factors. 

Factors Influencing Continuing Suicide Risk Following an Acute Crisis

  • Untreated depression or anxiety

  • Ongoing stressor that is unresolved and/or subject to intensify

  • Persistent problems with sleep or ability to function

  • Unrelenting hopelessness and/or pessimism

  • Misuse of alcohol and/or substances

  • Intermittent or persistent thoughts of death or suicide

  • Access to lethal means to harm oneself

Supporting Those with Elevated Risk of Suicide

You may have had an initial conversation with your family member, friend, or coworker about their crisis and your connection may have supplied an important dose of hope and encouragement.  It is vital that you convey your continuing availability and support, that they are not traversing this difficult time alone.  Your listening and empathic understanding during this time is indispensable.  Your time spent with them will afford you the opportunity to encourage initiating or sustaining their participation in treatment (medication and psychotherapy have strong evidence bases for reducing suicide risk), watching for signs of acute increased risk for suicide (establishes a basis for urgent evaluation/care), reminding them of reasons to live, and assisting with lethal means safety. 

Lethal Means Safety

Restricting access to the available means to harm oneself has been shown to reduce suicides.  Studies have shown that people have a preference for a given means and that many do not seek out other methods if a preferred means is not available.  The time between thinking of suicide and acting on it can span minutes, but also subside as quickly.  Restricting access to lethal means…

Source…

BBB: Pennsylvanians should be wary of new tech support scam with ‘adult twist’

/in


This scam can quickly turn from an innocent conversation about a slow computer to the “representative” accusing a household member of watching adult videos.

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The newest scam sweeping the states is an old trick with an “adult twist.”

According to the Better Business Bureau, the scam is easy to avoid, in theory. It stems from something being wrong with the victim’s home computer or internet connection. The victim will search online for a customer support phone number, and—in a rush to fix the problem—will click on the top result. 

A company “representative” will answer and ask a few standard questions about your device, such as the make and model number. 

At first, the call will appear normal, but it will quickly take a turn. The “tech support representative” will insist that someone in your house has been watching adult videos. 

In a recent report, the scammer asked the caller if they had a teenage son and then insisted the boy was to blame. In another case, “tech support” claimed that thousands of people had been using the caller’s IP address to view adult content. 

The end goal? The scammer wants to sell the victim expensive computer security software, which typically costs anywhere between $200 and $900. 

This software, however, will not fix the victim’s computer or internet access. In some cases, the scammers will also want remote access to your computer. Allowing them access only enables them to install malware that records passwords, keystrokes, and other files that hold personal information. 

The best way to avoid these scams? 

  • Never open attachments or links in emails from unknown senders. These can generate fake warning pop-ups that prompt you to make a call to scammers. If you get a suspicious pop-up alert, don’t click on anything and restart your computer, tablet or…

Source…

How To Update a Windows 10 Computer / Security Updates Driver Updates Operating System Updates

/in



Safety concerns loom as writers show public support for Rushdie

/in


NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Under the watch of counterterrorism officers and police in tactical gear, hundreds of people gathered in front of the New York Public Library on Friday to show support for Salman Rushdie, the author stabbed multiple times at a literary event a week ago.

Irish novelist Colum McCann, British writer Hari Kunzru and others read passages from Rushdie’s works from the top of the flagship library branch’s steps off Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Below, at a distance enforced by organizers, a crowd of about 400 people gathered to listen, breaking out into a chant of “Stand with Salman” when the event concluded.

Some held signs depicting Rushdie and quoting him saying, “If we are not confident of our freedom, then we are not free.”

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Police say Rushdie was attacked by a 24-year-old New Jersey man who rushed a stage and stabbed the writer in the neck and torso at a literary festival in western New York last week. Rushdie, who was rushed to a hospital, survived. read more

There were no bag checks or metal detectors to screen for weapons ahead of the appearance by Rushdie, who had been living under a death sentence for 33 years. read more

The suspect has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.

“I hope this is a wake-up call that people like Salman, who are fearless, who write things as they see them, who are not afraid to speak the truth as they view it, really are in danger,” said PEN America Chief Executive Suzanne Nossel. The nonprofit free-expression and human rights group helped organize the event.

Attendees spoke of their worries for themselves and other writers following the attack.

“We’re all in danger. And some of us are more overtly in danger than the rest,” Iranian-American author Roya Hakakian said in an interview.

While the death sentence, or fatwa, ordered on Rushdie by Iran was among the most high-profile threats, many authors say harassment and calls for violence have become part of the experience of being a writer.

“Love Is an Ex-Country” author Randa Jarrar said in an email interview this week that she had to learn how to “better aim a gun” and prepare physically…

Source…