Suicide: Causes and Prevention

WHO (2021) indicates that more than 700,000 people commit suicide every year. Quite a lot, right? But this is just the number of people who die; there are many more failed attempts too. Considering the families and community left behind and affected by the suicide of their loved ones, these numbers are still less than the actual sufferers. So, why do people take their own life? The first thing we say is, “they were selfish; why should we care”? But if we are a little more curious, we might have more empathy and realize why we should care exactly. This article will try to uncover some of the reasons and some implementations to prevent suicides.

Severe depression leads to suicide

Severe depression and other mental health problems are the primary cause of suicide. However, many of us don’t take depression seriously. We never know if someone around us is struggling with it to the point that they want to die. It derives people to death while we don’t listen to their cry for help. The reason is the social stigma around mental illness. The majority tends to avoid the issue and prefer not to talk about it frankly. Why? Maybe because it sounds silly? The feeling of not being understood, being judged by others, hearing that the problem is not big enough and we are overreacting, that’s quite common. Imagine being in a dark cave, unable to communicate, not seen by anyone, lonely and helpless. This hopelessness comes with despair and pessimism, which is enough to kill anyone. To prevent this, we need to understand that we all perceive things differently. The things which look trivial to us may be very hard on someone else.

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Psychiatric illness

Schizophrenia is one of the well-known psychotic disorders associated with hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive symptoms. Patients usually lose touch with reality. Sometimes they are not aware that they are committing suicide. And sometimes, they might want to get rid of the voices they hear and the non-existing things they see because of auditory and visual hallucinations. Our natural response is getting scared when someone speaks ‘nonsense’ about hearing and seeing things that don’t exist. There are enough ghost stories, and we are just sick of it. Well, how about the people who experience it? They are much more scared than those who do not have the condition. So, instead of running away, maybe we need more awareness.

Financial struggle

Money problems and feeling like a burden to others are reasons people take the drastic decision to commit suicide. The suicides in low to middle-income countries constitute 77 % of the suicides occurring globally (WHO, 2019). Increasing the employment rate may decrease the number of suicides significantly. Financial problems may give rise to frustration and disputes with friends and family. The resulting social isolation further increases the risk of suicide. Therefore, effective national responses and strategies for prevention are needed.

Trauma, bullying, and abuse

Sometimes the cause of suicide is the trauma of losing someone dear to them. The trauma can also be related to an experience such as child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, war trauma, or bullying. Unbearable emotional pain leads to suicide.

Chronic illness and pain

People with a terminal condition or chronic illness are at risk of attempting suicide. They are more likely to develop anxiety and depression than healthy individuals. American Journal of Preventative Medicine highlights some health conditions linked to the higher suicide risk. These include cancer, back pain, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart diseases. Needing someone to assist them or the cost of healthcare may put more stress on them. This situation is indeed heart-breaking, and to prevent this, we need a better support system. You can be become a part of that support system by donating to organizations that are working hard for the betterment of underprivileged patients. 

One such organization that you can donate to is Transparent Hands. We will familiarize you with Transparent Hands in the later stages of this discussion. For now, let us keep our focus on suicide causes.

Treatment and counselling

The preventive measures or the treatment depend on the cause. But one thing is common; the collective effort. Love and support is the most crucial factor in the treatment. It gives motivation and hopes to reach out to people who would understand them and stay with them. Some countries have organized healthcare for psychotic disorders and counselling sessions for depression.

There are also emergency assistance services. For psychotic illnesses, there are prescribed drugs available, whereas, for other causes of suicide, they have support agencies. Unfortunately, other countries do not have well-trained mental health workers or counsellors. So, to prevent suicides, we need more professionals in the area.

Besides suicide counselling, family and friends play an essential role. More often, you might not bring up the issue, thinking that you might be giving suicidal thoughts to the already distressed person. However, if you suspect that the person is likely to attempt suicide, talking about it may assure that somebody listens to them.

Transparent Hands

You can donate your zakat to a trust organization that you can trust, to help someone recover quickly from a chronic illness. If you are interested in funding someone’s healthcare expenses, one organization that you might like to know more about is Transparent Hands, Pakistan’s biggest crowdfunding platform. It offers a complete range of free healthcare services including medical and surgical treatments, medical camps, and telehealth facilities to the underprivileged community of Pakistan.

The platform provides visibility to underprivileged patients and builds a personal and trusted bond between patients and donors while ensuring complete transparency. It also sets up free medical camps in the rural areas of Pakistan in which, free medical consultation, free medicines, and free diagnostic tests are provided to deserving patients.

How does Transparent Hands manage your zakat? Donors from all over the world can use the Transparent Hands crowdfunding web portal and donate through 100% secure payment modes. They could select any patient, fund the treatment and receive regular feedback and updates until the patient has recovered completely.

So, if you donate your donation to this trustworthy platform, you will be helping someone cover their medical expenses. Think about it, so many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic can’t afford their health expenses right now. Transparent Hands manages your donations to help these distressed souls