Once every minute someone tries to commit suicide. Sixty or seventy times a day these
attempts succeed.( Earl A. Grollman, Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention,
Boston: Beacon Press, 1988, p.4) Unlike what many want to believe, suicide can happen
to anyone regardless of race, age or sex. News reports, books and the internet all point
in the same direction. We are undergoing a breakdown in our social roles, and suicide is
the result.
The first ever recorded talk of suicide was in 2000 B.C., when a man says that his life
is filled with pain and suffering and he is contemplating taking his own life. Although
attitudes toward suicide have changed over the years, it has not ceased to happen. The
first suicide prevention Centre didn't come until almost 4000 years later. In 1774,
England created the first Centre to try to prevent attempted suicides.
Suicide prevention isn't happening until it's too late. One high school, in a small
town in Quebec, had four suicides in seven weeks. After these had happened, the school
invited parents in to discuss suicide prevention. (CTV News 11:00 p.m. January 6, 1997.)
These might have been able to be prevented if communities would assume their roles and
discuss it on a regular basis and not have suicide be a word that is whispered but never
spoken.
The myth that those who talk about suicide will never actually go through with it is
completely false. Most people who do kill themselves give some sort of clue before doing
so. It may be something very subtle such as "I wonder where my father keeps his gun" or
they might just come right out and say "I would rather die then go on living this way."
What ever it is everyone should know how to recognize when someone is feeling suicidal
and get help to them right away. Suicide can be prevented if noticed at an early enough
stage.
Suicidal feelings can be brought upon someone by many different situations. Someone
with a terminal illness may not see a reason to continue a short life of pain, when they
think they'll die soon anyway. Economical stress hurts more then just your wallet,
someone may feel that they are a failure and that may bring suicidal feelings. The death
of a loved one or the breakdown of a family can also cause these feelings. Because
someone may fall in to one of these categories doesn't mean that they are suicidal, but
all hints should be taken seriously. A cry for help needs help from a professional
helper.
Although suicide is a frightening subject, the rate of suicide among adolescence is
increasing drastically.( Earl A. Grollman, Suicide: Prevention, Intervention,
Postvention, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988, p.4) People believe that discussing suicide
with teenagers will put ideas in to their head. The majority of teen suicide could have
been prevented if there were proper awareness programs in the community and at school.
There are many examples of teens who felt depressed and suicidal over not making a sports
team or getting in to the university of their choice. After trying to express their
feelings and having no one listen to them, they often take their life.
Suicide is illegal but that doesn't stop people from wanteing to go through with it.
People do have a right to die but by helping them deal with their problems better and
know their options, it does not take them away their rights, just keeps them from doing
somethng they might regret. In the vast majority of cases a suicide attemptor would
choose differently if they were not in great distress and were able to evaluate their
options objectively. (http://www.paranoia.com/%7Ereal/suicide/)
Suicide should be taken very seriously and should no longer be a topic shunned by our
society. It should be openly discussed, and information on suicide should be as
accessible to everyone as water. Those contemplating suicide may not be able to see what
they are doing and the other solutions that are out there. If someone is showing many
signs of wanting to end their life, then they should be directed towards other options
such as counseling, therapy, or perhaps even medication. If the individual knows his/her
options and still chooses suicide, since it is their life, then it should be their
choice. To many, suicide may seem like the only answer, although they may know what kind
of an impact it will leave behind them, if they've had these feelings for a long period
of time, there might be no stopping them. Suicide has to be detected early, and treated
early.
There is hope for the future, scientists are constantly discovering new things about how
the brain works, and new medication to treat depression, and other mental illnesses.
Slowly but surely people are beginning to talk about the ever-feared word suicide. But
there is still so much that can be done by society. People must be educated on the taboo
subject. There should be more public awareness programs at schools, seminars and
conferences should be held to provide information on prevention. This is becomming more
important now then ever, as the suicide rate increases the need for these should be
recognized on a provincial and national level. Mental health should be a priority in our
society today, not something that is left on the back burner like it used to be.
As stress grows with the raise of unemployement and the increase in broken homes, the
suicide rate grows as well. Education is our main weapon against it, so we have to make
sure we're fully loaded. It's on the news, it's in the books, the statistics are
everywhere and they're overwhelming, yet action isn't taken and the problem continues to
get worse. The social roles in our society are breaking down where education on this
subject is concerned and suicide is the gruesome result.
|