A Reality Check: SUICIDE

“I can’t do this anymore. I’m a burden anyway. I am a failure and there is no point of my existence. I should rather die than live this misery”. These thoughts must have crossed your mind at least once, and often you can brush it off, but what happens when someone can’t?

The rate of suicide has been ever so increasing and becoming a “common” phenomenon. Teens taking their lives while playing video games, college students ending their lives due to low grades, fight with your spouse, loss in business leads to cutting the wrists, jumping down the building, taking pills and the list goes on.

We have so driven to win a race which actually has no end that a setback or a mistake is absolutely unacceptable. We rather end one’s life than live or think about overcoming the setbacks.

The World Health The organization estimates that approximately 1 million people die each year from suicide. To those who are not in the grips of suicidal depression and despair, it’s difficult to understand what drives so many individuals to take their own lives. But a suicidal person is in so much pain that he or she can see no other option.

Suicide is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable. Blinded by feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness, and isolation, a suicidal person can’t see any way of finding relief except through death. But despite their desire for the pain to stop.

It’s extremely disappointing to see how our human civilization is evolving. The value of living is equated by the balance we have in our accounts or marks we obtained.  Setbacks, mistakes, the downfall is so unacceptance that we make it our end. We are deriving an apocalypse on ourselves. There are cognitive distortions such as- generalizations, magnification, all or nothing thinking, polarized thinking.

Common myths of suicide.

Myth: People who talk about suicide won’t really do it.

Fact: Almost everyone who attempts suicide has given some clue or warning. Don’t ignore even indirect references to death or suicide. Statements like “You’ll be sorry when I’m gone,” “I can’t see any way out,”—no matter how casually or jokingly said—may indicate serious suicidal feelings.

Myth: Anyone who tries to kill him/herself must be crazy.

Fact: Most suicidal people are not psychotic or insane. They are upset, grief-stricken, depressed or despairing, but extreme distress and emotional pain are not necessarily signs of mental illness.

Myth: If a person is determined to kill him/herself, nothing is going to stop them.

Fact: Even the most severely depressed person has mixed feelings about death, wavering until the very last moment between wanting to live and wanting to die. Most suicidal people do not want death; they want the pain to stop. The impulse to end it all, however overpowering, does not last forever.

Myth: People who die by suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help.

Fact: Studies of suicide victims have shown that more than half had sought medical help in the six months before their deaths.

There is no reason to be ashamed of the thought. We all have been in that place. Seeking help is essential cause YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Although we are aware and talk about the overt methods of ending one’s life, there is a covert way to do so too. We should be aware of the slow death techniques people are dwelling on around us to help them get out of it.

Indulging in activities that are a threat to your life like substance abuse, alcohol, binge eating, poor or extreme appetite, staying in a toxic relationship, isolation, lack of grooming, risk-taking behaviors like gambling, reckless driving, etc. are also covert methods to commit suicide.

Remember

Some of the finest, most admired, needed, and talented people have been where you are now. The pain of depression can be treated and hope can be renewed. No matter what your situation, some people need you, places where you can make a difference, and experiences that can remind you that life is worth living. It takes real courage to face death and step back from the brink. You can use that courage to face life, to learn coping skills for overcoming depression, and for finding the strength to keep going. 

Your emotions are not fixed. They are constantly changing. How you feel today may not be the same as how you felt yesterday or how you’ll feel tomorrow or next week. Your ability to experience pleasurable emotions is equal to your ability to experience distressing emotions.

Feeling suicidal is not a character defect. It doesn’t mean you are crazy or weak or flawed. It only means you are coping with pain right now. This pain seems overwhelming and permanent at this moment. However, with time and support, you will overcome your problems and this feeling of pain will pass. It’s time to end this epidemic