Suicides

One of the great play writers namely William Shakespeare says ”There is nothing good or bad; thinking makes it so." Suicide is also neither good nor bad. Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave went on fast unto death several times during their life time to achieve one or another goal. We come across many who threaten or undergo self immolation for a good cause. In same way there are many who threaten others on one or another occasion that they would commit suicide just to pressurize and make latter yield to their demands. Civilizations die from suicide , not by murder.On account of situations in life many human beings face the dilemma " whether to live or whether to die". As a result many commit suicide too. When all is well normally nobody commits suicide. It is during a bad period in life one commits suicide. Several incidents make one desperate at that time. One may feel ashamed during such incidents. One may become penniless too and may not know what to do. People commit suicide in this world for one or another reason. Reason for committing a suicide is not always the same . There are countless reasons to commit suicide. They are sometimes silly also. Some commit suicide in this world without any reason too. Suicide is a decision taken by an individual to end their life. The decision may be right or wrong.

When life is a burden, when one loses interest in life, when one finds no charm in life and when one thinks that their life is useless, living becomes difficult. When living becomes difficult one thinks that it is better to die. Suicide is one ending intentionally their life themselves. It is not others killing one. It is one killing they themselves. It is "self-murder" Up until 50 years ago suicide was a crime in England and Wales. It is accepting defeat with life. It is surrendering to life. It is an extreme step. It is an unfinished life. It is not a complete life.

We come across not only an individual ending their life but also we come across mass suicides too. Suicide occurs in every culture. Not only young but also old people commit suicide. There is no age limit for suicide.

60% of people who commit suicide have a mood disorder.

No other thought other than that suicide is the best and only an option that they have occupies the mind of those who commit suicide.

They are disturbed emotionally.

It is their state of mind that make them commit suicide. Not even a single positive thought emerges in their mind at that moment..

They feel generally that they are helpless.

Majority of people who commit suicide are generally pessimistic and have inferiority complex too. Those who commit suicide have little or no self –confidence. In majority of suicides, one who commits suicide would have no diseases and would have perfect health.In fact, nobody likes suicides. Except a mentally unsound person nobody would commit a suicide willingly. A suicide is an act forced upon one. Normally, failures and suicides go hand in glove. Failures make one desperate and humiliated. One who commits suicides faces failure in one way or another. At a bad a moment in life only one thinks of a suicide. On many occasions circumstances compel one to commit suicide. Sometimes suicide creates suspense. Sometimes, it takes one by surprise. Sometimes, it can be anticipated and sometimes it cannot be anticipated also. Suicide cuts short a life. Nobody sympathizes or pities a suicide. It is foolish to commit suicide. Committing suicide is considered as a sin. It is said that one who commits a suicide does not take birth again and theybecome a ghost. It is believed that one who commits suicide has no place either in heaven or hell.

Those who commit suicide are generally regarded as self-centered also. All of the people who are close to one who commits a suicide will be very wounded by their death, and the ones who care about them the most, or need them the most, will be the most affected.

Of course, all attempts to commit a suicide do not succeed. Many attempts to commit suicide fail. In fact, suicide attempts that do not result in death far outnumber completed suicides.One can commit a suicide at anytime according to their whims and fancies. What is required to commit a suicide is only a will power. There is no hurry burry to commit a suicide. One can postpone a suicide. It is not one of those things that one has to-do now or otherwise one would lose chance. One should not commit a suicide because somebody committed a suicide. Suicide is not an ideal or a proper method to end a life. Suicide is illegal. Suicide is a crime. Dead body in case of a suicide is invariably subjected to a postmortem. Thereafter investigations take place wherein kith and kin of deceased face lot of inquiry/harassment. A suicide

aggravates the difficulties rather than diminishing them. A suicide may aggravate problems instead of minimizing or reducing them. One must learn to live with the problems.

Suicide is running away from life. It is like a timid running away from battle field. Majority of people in this world despise suicide. Shameless people never commit suicide. If suicide were easy and if it were a solution to problems everybody would have preferred it. In fact, a suicide only appears as easy and it is not a real solution to one’s problems. It is not answer to problems. There are occasions where cases of suicides turn out to be murders too. It is when unscrupulous persons try to take advantage of term suicide. They try to mislead others. They try to make others believe their crime as suicides in order to hide their crime and escape from clutches of law. Thus, all deaths which appear as suicides are not suicides. All that glitters is not gold. If a body is hanging, do not come to the conclusion that it is a suicide. It can be a murder also. Whenever there is a death one has to ascertain without fail whether it is due to a push or a fall to come to know whether it is a murder or a suicide. Similarly, whenever there is a death due to poison to decide whether it is a murder or a suicide one has to make sure whether it is poisoning or consumption of poison.

Those who commit suicide generally have a habit of leaving a note. That note is known as suicide note. It is usually hand written. It contains circumstances under which suicide was contemplated. In other words it reveals reasons for suicide. It also helps relatives to come out of embarrassing situation.

Those who have no patience to wait for natural death to arrive at, generally commit a suicide. Nothing disturbs a man more than his own thoughts . One or another problem or purpose only drives one to commit a suicide. Nobody would generally commit a suicide without any problem or purpose. Suicide is one’s resolve only. More battles take place in a human mind than battles that take place anywhere else in this world. A decision normally takes place only after clash of thoughts in human mind. It is not only Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” had thought " To be or not to be" but also those who commit suicide too normally would have that thought” To be or not to be”. Every suicide is a sad story. One who is happy and contented never commits suicide. It is who are unhappy, discontented and disgruntled who commit suicide. One, who commits suicide neither know nor realize how precious human life is. Suicide is nothing but one digging their own grave. Suicide seems like a solution to their problems. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Those who commit suicide love selves more than they love anybody else. They are selfish. Generally one feels that they are useless and they are not good for anything when they are in suicidal mood. Further, at that time either they think more or do not think at all. They do not find a ray of hope anywhere. They come across darkness everywhere. They do not share their thoughts with others. They have no confidence in them at that moment to face life. They are perturbed, confused and do not know what to do. Suicide is an intensely private act, yet its social impact is profound. One, who commits suicide instead of facing a situation, runs away from it. Suicide is to escape from a situation. Suicide is an extremely timid act. Suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice. It is said “Only the idiots are committing suicide" One who feels that they are not good for anything only commits suicide. Despite various measures being taken, suicides are not at all on decline; in fact they are on the increase in this world. Suicide is committed to have peace. But, not even a semblance of peace is noticed on mortal remains of one who commits suicide. Of course, a suicide is always better than surrender. When necessary even a soldier unhesitatingly commits a suicide. Instead of falling into hands of an enemy a soldier always prefers a suicide. Suicide is an ultimate weapon at one’s disposal and it should be used as a last resort only when it is absolutely essential.

There are various methods to commit suicides. It is impossible to guess even that method which one would choose to end their life. One who commits suicides often takes others by surprise. Some hang themselves with a rope noose around their neck, some stab themselves ,some drown themselves, some swallow poisons, some pour kerosene or petrol upon their body and burn themselves, some jump from top of hill or roof of multistoried building. Similarly there are innumerable reasons to commit suicides. Some times it is dejection in life, sometimes it is mental depression, sometimes it is humiliation, sometimes it is frustration, sometimes it is disappointments due to failures, sometimes it is poverty are reasons behind a suicide. Sometimes there may not be any reason for a suicide also. Of course, sometimes we cannot make out reasons for a suicide too. Sometimes reasons for a suicide are silly. Further, they are not always same in individual cases. They differ from case to case. It is state of mind that generally induces one to commit suicide. It is circumstances that lead one to end their life generally. When cup of woe is full, when there is little patience and when life is unbearable, one commits suicide. It is when one is in deepest darkness of despair, sadness, and loneliness. Troubles drive one to commit suicides. In times of distress one feels helpless and desperate. One thinks at that time that suicide is only a way at their disposal to extricate them from all trouble. Generally, when one’s prestige and reputation is at stake, one commits suicide. Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.

Before it rains there are always symptoms .Weather becomes hot. Sky becomes cloudy. Thunders and lightening begin. Wind starts blowing. It starts drizzling. Similarly those who commit suicide emanate certain symptoms that indicate that they would commit suicide. The following are possible warning signs of suicide:

· talking about dying: talk of disappearing, jumping, shooting oneself or other expressions of self-harm.

· recent loss: death, divorce, a broken relationship or loss of a job can all lead to thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts. Other losses that can be indicative of suicide include loss of religious faith and a loss of interest in one's friends or activities the individual once enjoyed.

· change in personality: the individual may exhibit unusual signs of fatigue, indecisiveness or anxiousness.

· change in behavior: lack of concentration in work, school or everyday activities, such as household chores.

· change in sleeping patterns: oversleeping, insomnia and other types of sleep disturbances can be suicide signs and symptoms.

· change in eating habits: loss of appetite or an increased appetite; other changes can include increased or decreased weight.

· decreased sexual interest: such changes can include impotence or irregular or missed periods.

· low self-esteem: this suicide symptom can be exhibited through emotions such as shame, inferiority or self-hatred.

· fear of loss of control: the individual worries about losing her sanity and about harming either herself or others.

· lack of hope for the future: another suicide warning sign is that the individual feels that there is no hope for the future and that things will never improve.

Some other suicide warning signs include previous suicide attempts, a history of substance or alcohol abuse, excessive spending, hyperactivity, restlessness or lethargy.

One need not commit a suicide. One's deeds can be as good as a suicide. Adolf Hitler attacked Russia in world ward II. It was suicidal. Some blunders tantamount to suicide. Opposition parties need not bring down a government. A ruling party by its own blunders may gather dust. If one imitates others their talents do not develop. Their talents get rusted. Imitation is suicide. Similarly, one should be cautious while conversing too. Words spoken could be suicidal. There is a proverb in this regard which conveys that a word if spoken and a pearl if broken cannot be rectified. While sharing any vital information with others one should be very careful otherwise, there is every possibility of it turning out to be suicidal.

World is developing day by day. Suicides are not too lagging behind in that respect. Suicide terrorism is a problematic term to define. These days there are terrorists who act as suicide bombers to create chaos. A suicide bombing is an attack intended to kill others and inflict widespread damage, while the attacker intends to die as well in the process. Modern suicide bombing as a political tool can be traced back to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881. Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff intended to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bomb in 1943. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the seventh Prime Minister of India, took place in Sriperumbudur inTamil Nadu, India Tamil on 21 May 1991. It was one of the first uses of suicide bombing for the purposes of political terror.

Suicides are plaguing this universe from time immemorial. Sati is a funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a recently widowed woman would either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. Sati is a term derived from the original name of the goddess Sati, also known asDakshayani, who self-immolated because she was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her (living) husband Shiva.

Suicide as an issue has attracted the attention of society since time immemorial. The prevention of suicide is a big challenge to the society and the nation as well. With the multiple approaches and meaningful interventions, many lives can be saved. Preventing suicide requires interventions at individual, family and societal levels. Worldwide, prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to basically a lack of awareness of suicide as a major problem and the taboo in many societies to discuss openly about it. In fact, only a few countries have included prevention of suicide among their priorities. Time has come to find ways and means to bring down suicides. That is why September 10 is observed as Suicide Prevention Day world over by WHO. Prevention of a suicide is saving a life. In fact it is a rebirth to a person who contemplated suicide. Society should never treat a person who tried to commit a suicide with contempt. Society as well as the person who tried to commit a suicide should bury the incident as a dream once for all. Suicide is not a remedy. Suicide is always a bad option. It should be avoided always.

One who is happy never thinks of a suicide. In fact, they would like to live more. Similarly, optimists do not commit. Optimists always expect that better days would follow. Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse. One must remember that face is mirror into mind and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of heart. One’s nature plays an important part in their decision to commit suicide. Behavior also often reveals one's intention to commit suicide. What one who wants to commit suicide needs most is counseling. Thinking of those who are contemplating suicide is entirely wrong. Those who commit suicide lack maturity in their thinking. Their thinking process needs overhauling. They must be made to think positively. Negative thoughts in them are to be driven out. What they need is a friend, philosopher and a guide. Wherever there is even remote possibility of a suicide appears, anything that would facilitate a suicide should be immediately removed from vicinity. There should be no scope for committing a suicide at all. An idle brain is devil's workshop. Those who are emanating symptoms of suicide should always be kept busy in or another way. It is a precarious period. They should never be allowed to be alone at that time. A close watch over them is a must. Situation should be handled with utmost dexterity. Suicide is a disease of the mind. 90 percent of people who attempt or commit suicide suffer from a mental illness, such as:Depression