Understanding How Suicide Affects People
As the struggles in life continue to grow, many people find that they have run out of coping mechanisms that can help them to get through them. It may only take one small act to send a person over the edge where they may contemplate or even commit suicide. For some, it could be a break up with a significant other, a loss of employment, or an illness in the family. For others, it could be something that is seemingly insignificant in another person’s life but could represent an insurmountable obstacle for someone else.
Regardless of the reason behind a person turning their thoughts towards suicide, it is important that this degrading condition in our modern day society is not swept under the rug. It has become a major problem in the world today. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, more than 800,000 people a year take their own lives. (1) That amounts to 1 death every 40 seconds and that number doesn’t incorporate those who have failed in their attempts each year or those that may have thought about it but never acted upon it.
In order to stem the tide of suicide, we must be ready to look at the cold, hard facts. The more we face the condition and the more knowledge we know, the better chance we can have of helping someone with suicidal thoughts to turn around and seek out a more positive means of dealing with problems.
Suicidal Thoughts are Common
In a recent study of 26,000 college students, it was discovered that more than half of them had had suicidal thoughts at one time or another. This shows that the problem is more serious than many of us realize. It is a small step from the thought to taking action.
This fact alone leads many of us to ask why. Quite often there are two different factors associated with suicidal thoughts. First, the thought may be a result of shame. It could be embarrassment or humiliation because of a loss they may have experienced or it could be the result of ridicule from judgmental people who cause the shame. In either case, it begs each of us to wonder if our closed views of other people may be the impetus that sends another individual to their death.
There is a saying that children often chant, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.’ If this were really true, cruel harsh words, name calling and cyber bullying would never have been able to take its toll on so many people. The reality is that our words can and will be far more harmful to an individual than physical abuse ever could. Our bodies are designed to heal but our minds do not recover as quickly or as easily as we would like to believe.
It May be Genetic
It is also no secret that suicide can run in the family. Just as depression, a major cause of suicide, can be passed down from one generation to the next, so can suicidal thoughts. If one has close family members that deal with depression, it is a natural progression from the thought to action. This makes sense when you consider that when in depression, one has lost all sense of hope and no prospects of a positive future. It doesn’t matter if these feelings or ideas are real – in many cases they are not – but their effects can be the same. An individual may feel stuck, exhausted, and completely disconnected from everyone around them. When those thoughts occur, the only logical conclusion to them is suicide. (2)
This concern extends even further to relatives of anyone who has committed suicide. Those that are successful, leave behind family members who are full of shame that can send them tumbling into depression as well. If these issues are not addressed, it may start a domino effect with the survivor feeling guilty enough to take their own life.
Because this problem has permeated society so much, there are steps that all of us should take to identify and address these issues with the people in our lives. This is not limited to family members but everyone you may come in contact with; coworkers, classmates, and friends can all be included in this circle and learn from gaining a better knowledge of how suicide can have an impact on our lives.
Resources:
1.http://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-suicide-from-a-survivor/
2.http://www.survivorsofsuicide.com/understanding.shtml