Suicide Attempt: A Crime?

Suicide is a crime under Indian Penal Code. It is perhaps the only case where the successful criminal can’t be punished. The law can take its course if one attempts and remains alive.

There are other measures to discourage the suicide, like the insurance. Sometimes, the beneficiary hides the ‘suicide act’ in order to get the insurance money. But, such measures are immaterial for somebody who has left the mortal world.

Most of the Religions also condemn this act, but if a person really commits suicide then they can only offer the condolences to the near and dears. After all, how the dead can be preached! 

Affected by this religious as well as legal understanding, almost all of us perceive this act as something “not good” for the civilized society.

Is it the right perception?

What happens to the person because of this general perception?

She may try to hide his feeling to avoid the ridicule. He may plan it secretly to avoid the legal implication. He or she may use it to take revenge from the family/friends – implicating them in the suicide note.

The skeptic may ask another question:

Why somebody ends this otherwise beautiful god-gift called ‘Life’?

Sometime back, a psychiatrist tried to deconstruct this academic mystery. According to him, there are three broad reasons:

First is Genetic. It is there in the genes. Somebody whose grandpa has committed the suicide is more prone. It’s like one is more likely to have diabetes because of the family history. It does not mean that one will commit it because of the genes. It’s the possibility.

Second is Chemical Imbalance. Dopamine, or something similar, is a chemical in our brain that controls our mood. For some people, this chemistry is not right. It’s similar to not having the proper thyroid level in your body or not having proper secretion of a particular hormone. Not necessarily such deficiency may lead to suicide. But yes, there is a sufficient chance.

Third is behavioral/environment. It depends on the circumstances, like abuse, accidental trauma, grief due to death of near ones, failures in education, profession or relation, and so on. These are difficult times that affect our emotional well-being. Again, it does not lead to suicide automatically but may have the potential to derail.

The theorists can debate for more reasons, but nobody can vouch for sure. These causes are only probabilities.

The real reason may be a sudden impulse caused by multiple factors.

So, can we blame the person for this act? Is he like any other criminal?

Or, is he like any other patient, entitled to get the care?

Once, a young girl lived in our neighborhood...

Once, not so long ago, there was a bright young girl.

Often, the teachers praised her academic talent – she was above average in studies.   

Frequently, the friends asked her to sing a Bollywood number – she was a gifted signer.

She had dreams to fly in the sky one day. That did not mean simply to be able to purchase an airline ticket. She wanted much more –to conquer the world perhaps.

Her parents were proud of her. Yet, they were eager to marry her off as soon as possible.

And she was an obedient daughter.

So, she got married.

Soon, she had a child.

Taking care of her family became her fulltime job.

Everybody saw her doing that job but nobody knew about her feeling…

…of how she felt about the lost dreams,

…of pressures of not being financially independent,

…of the incompatibility with her husband,

…of the helplessness that nothing could improve the situation,

…of perhaps many more issues, pinching her day in and day out,

She was unable to share her feelings with her parents – they would feel the guilt, thought she.

What could she share to her husband, who might be a reason for her troubles!

Her child was too small to listen.

The friends considered her as a happily married. How come she had pent-up emotions, thought they.     

And she was not aware of any helpline. Or perhaps such help-lines did not have enough media exposure to reach to someone like her.  

One day, recently, she committed suicide.

Now, everyone is wondering why?

Suicide by a doctor and a nurse...

March 15, 2014

Chief medical officer of 'Aligarh Muslim University' commits suicide 

March 16, 2014

AIIMS nurse commits suicide in Delhi

These news items are almost unnoticed amid the hullaballoo of General Elections.

  

       Suicides by a doctor and a nurse at the institutions of repute are like just any other incident.

But if we try to understand, it may mean that the medical fraternity is also not immune to what we otherwise presume:

That, the doctors and the nurses can get better “treatment” if required.

Perhaps it may be true only for the usual diseases, and may not be so for the depressed and suicidal…

Why?

The psychiatrists are also there in a hospital. A nurse or a doctor can easily get their appointment if needed.

Then how come suicide still finds its takers among the healthcare professionals?

Do we need something more than our usual apparatus of serving the patients?

Or the mindset of the society that discriminates between the mental illness and other general illnesses is not right?

Why can’t we talk about our depression as openly as we talk about common cough and cold?

Why can’t we discuss about our suicidal thoughts as easily as we can discuss about our kidney or liver problems.

Absence of an emotional healthcare system, integrated with the professional medical services, is perhaps another reason.

That’s why many of us silently suffer from our mental trauma – that may be chronic or acute.

Even, the family members and the workplace colleagues remain ignorant of what a depressed or suicidal person is going through…

Perhaps the timely intervention may save more lives…but first we should be ready to listen… 

...Are we? 

Suicide attempt by security personnel

Pressures of being a security official is not easy to cope with..especially if one becomes aware of the secrets of the VIPs and the danger of that knowledge...


Fear of prosecution, Uncertainty of future, Shame of not being able to speak for the truth, Guilt of doing something under pressure against the honour , etc...any emotion can block the normal progress of life in such situation.. 


An unbiased professional emotional support system can help such a person..


Perhaps, our security agencies should involve some outside organizations like Sumaitri to facilitate the unburdening of choked emotions of their officials...



Ishrat Jahan Case: Constable part of Vanzara, Pandey’s security attempts suicide | The Indian Express

News: perception and reality...

Three headlines of the last week:

1. Two inmates commit suicide inside Tihar jail.

    Message: condition of inmates inside a prestigious jail

2. Two students commit suicide in Hyderabad during the protests against Telengana.

    Message: anger against the making of a new state by central Govt.

3. An ex-constable of paramilitary force trying to commit suicide in Delhi arrested

    Message: paramilitary soldier’s plight and the quick police action

On the surface, these headlines conveyed different messages, as conveyed by the media or understood by the public.

Is it really so?

Let’s look at each of them closely.

First one, the suicide inside the jail, doesn’t concern most of us, as it is about those who have been punished by the law. They deserve it, we can say.

Does it matter if a criminal lives or dies?

Even if the crime is not fully proved, being inside the jail is sufficient to label a person.  We never distinguish between a crime and the criminal. And we are not interested why the criminal did it?

Should we bother?

Is the criminal a human being first? Does he need support to vent out his feelings? Of maybe guilt, or loneliness inside the prison cell, or the anger against the system, or the stress of what will happen to him in the future, and so on.

What if the criminal gets a chance to reform?  -To lead a normal life… so that the crime rate will eventually go down…

Or maybe the person, before doing the crime, has an emotional support system available so that he or she can release the choked feelings, and perhaps think more rationally…?

Second news, of students’ suicide, connects immediately with the people divided clearly between the favour and against of formation of a new state. How an agitation can go to such extreme?  

And the suicides could not stop the Govt to pass the Telengana bill.

Amid all the politics, nobody thought about the students who ended their lives openly.

Were those students so stressed that they had no other option left?

Did they have proper support system to vent out their choked feelings?

Did they really want to die? Or was it their call for help?

Were they able to share their suppressed feelings with somebody around?

     

What if they had someone to unlock their anger and channelize their energy for a better tomorrow?

Third headline, the suicide attempt by a paramilitary constable, got chewed with a little amusement.  A drama played out in public place and quick response by usually inefficient policemen saved a life.

Nobody asked why a depressed person was sent to the prison.

Because, the law is like that only. Trying to commit suicide is punishable under Indian Penal Code.

The constable, in news, had served in Border Security Force.

Are we insensitive enough not to bother about a soldier?  

Did he have sufficient support to vent out his emotions?

What if he had someone to share his agony and lead him to proper medical care if required?

Do our military and paramilitary forces have a proper emotional support mechanism in place for such a soldier?

To protect our national borders can have at times a toll on the emotional health of the soldier. Who is there for him in such a difficult times?

So,

Underneath, all the above three are about the absence of a suitable support system for the stressed souls.

As a human being, are we ready to provide such a care to anybody in need?

to share the suicide feelings on web...

a website called suicide project:

http://suicideproject.org/about/

Myths about suicide

           Some false notions in our society are so prevalent that they sometimes play a crucial and negative role in our psyche if we try to help a suicidal person. 

Here is a list of such false notions:   

1. People talking about suicide will never do it. 
           

            Almost every person who commits or attempts suicide has given some clue or warning.

          

            “I’ll do it very soon.”

            “I have no choice but to end it for once and all.”

            “I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow.”

            “It’s the only option I have.”

... Such statements even if told casually are matter of concern and may be because of suicidal feelings hidden under the calm and composed person.

            Do not ignore such statements. They may signal the call for help...

2. Anyone who tries to commit suicide must be crazy. 

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

3. If a person is determined to end the life, nothing is going to stop them. 

            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.

            A suicidal person can be saved from committing it.

4. People who commit suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help. 

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

5. If one tries to ask about the suicide, it will give the idea of suicide to that person

            A suicidal person doesn't get this idea from others. 

            In fact, talking about it with someone releases his stress.

            So, don’t hesitate to ask about the suicide if you have any doubt about the depressed person.