The most difficult part of confronting suicidal people is asking them if they are going to kill themselves.

This is what Peter Gutierrez, assistant chair in psychology, who has a speciality in adolescent suicide risk prediction and prevention, tells people who deal with troubled people.

“There is a myth that if you ask someone if they are going to kill themselves, you will give them ideas. But the opposite is true,” Gutierrez said. “If you say things like, ‘You don’t seem like yourself. Are you thinking about killing yourself?’ you are not going to make them suicidal, but you need to get them professional help.”

College students commit suicide half as often as non-students of the same age, Gutierrez said.

“There is something about being a student that is protective, and we are trying to figure out what that is to prevent suicide from happening,” Gutierrez said.

The rate of suicide in the United States is about 16 percent per 100,000 people out of a population of about 290 million, according to the National Suicide Crisis Line.

Elderly white males over age 85 are killing themselves more than any other age group, Gutierrez said. Studies show that suicides increase with age.

“It is important to understand that many of the risk factors and potential warning signs of suicide are also risk factors or signs of other serious problems,” he said. “A lot of the outward symptoms of depression are warning signs that someone might be thinking about suicide.”

A sudden change in behavior that is different from someone’s normal personality – such as crying a lot for no specific reason – is one warning sign.

No one can predict who will or won’t kill themselves, although experts look for warning signs in people who are depressed, Gutierrez said.

“Someone can be showing all kinds of warning signs that they are thinking about suicide, but they do not take action on those thoughts,” Gutierrez said. “Other people don’t show any warning signs and unfortunately end up dead.”

Suicide can be frustrating from a research perspective because when studying those who are suicidal, researchers can get caught in a moral dilemma.

“If you find someone is depressed or thinks about killing themselves, you have a moral obligation to act on that information,” Gutierrez said. “This complicates things from a research perspective because you alter the program by intervening, but you have to. You can’t just wait and see what happens.”

There are many suicide prevention programs in schools across the United States that provide students with information about risk factors and warnings about suicide.

“These resources try to help people understand that even if they think suicide is the only solution to a problem they are having, there are always other options to explore,” Gutierrez said.

The main point Gutierrez stressed was that suicide is preventable, regardless of what someone has to do to prevent it from happening.

“In a lot of cases, people who are upset or suicidal ask for help, and you can prevent suicide,” Gutierrez said. “Everyone can play a role in it. You have to be able to ask that scary question: ‘Are you going to kill yourself?’”