The Act of Suicide - Coursework Example

Topic Suicide Suicide is the process of purposely killing oneself due to mental illness or difficulties arising from life. In most cases, suicide occurs due to depression and can be avoided if proper treatment is given at the right time. According to (Dryden,2011) “Nearly 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, with anywhere from 10 million to 20 million suicide attempts annually. About 30,000 people reportedly kill themselves each year in the United States”. The act of suicide is viewed by different culture in a different way. For instance, some religion like Christianity and Judaism view suicide as offensive while Islam in recent times regard suicide killing as a divine process. “However, the act of suicide has great importance in the field of psychology and personality theory as it is directly related to destruction of the life of a person”. (Thesis) Suicide is an act of ending life and hence it has critical importance to psychological and personality theory field. There can be few points attached to the suicidal process, when it is seen from a psychological or personality theoretical view. Suicide destroys the life of a person. Suicide is a curse on the society and brings in destruction to social environment. Suicide snatches away a productive entity from a society. Suicidal tendency brings a negative energy to the personality of a person. Suicidal tendency can induce violence and aggression in the person affected. i) Suicide destroys the life of a person The person who commits suicide destroys one’s life with the will and consent of oneself. From a psychologists view, a person commits suicide due to various reasons apart from mental illness. It is usually the emotional repercussions of a person lead to the traumatic process called suicide. As per(Joiner ,2009)“The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior proposes that an individual will not die by suicide unless s/he has both the desire to die by suicide and the ability to do so”. It is believed by psychological world that a person will develop tendency for suicide, if she/ he holds two psychological states in their mind. These two states can be narrowly described as social alienation and low social belongingness in the person’s life. Such people also develop less fear to injury and self mutilation. Looking from a psychological perspective, the people with suicidal tendency might have experienced often some fearful and painful events which provoke them to get accustomed with painful acts and thoughts. The study of suicidal act has a great importance in psychological field, as it allows the psychologists to find credible solution to prevent this social evil. According to (Geberth,1996)“The Psychology of the suicide is rooted in depression. Therefore, the investigator must take into account the clinical considerations as well as the investigative facts”. As suicide is directly connected with psychological field, the psychologists study the people with suicidal tendencies to come up with reliable treatment and medication for their betterment. ii) Suicide is a curse on the society and brings in destruction to social environment Suicide is not a phenomenon faced by a particular country or culture; it has its stamp on every nook and corner of the world. Suicide can be definitely tagged as a process which brings in endless miseries and agony to the society and community of the diseased person. As per (Gold, 2012) “Unfortunately family, friends and well wishers are always the last to notice and are always shocked if suicide occurs”. A person with suicidal tendency undergo unexpected life situation, wherein he has no capability to take positive decision regarding his life. From a psychological stand, people with suicidal tendency help the psychologist in evaluating the social circumstances and environment which trigger redundancy in them. Moreover, the psychologist strongly believes that studying a suicide prone person allows them to understand and prevent this evil act. We all live in a social environment and loss of a person from a society due to suicide can leave a panicking and fearsome situation in the society. Especially, the idea of suicide can also lead to provocation in the mind of children and teenagers who are delicate minded and vulnerable to such acts. It is mostly the teenagers who fall prey to substance abuse and teen pregnancy problems which induce them to commit suicidal attempts. When one look at suicide from a personality theory perspective, it occurs in a person due to his consistent desire to escape from depression. Personality theory ardently believes that, emotional behavior of a person has an important role to play in persuading a person to commit suicide. iii) Suicide snatches away a productive entity from a society For a society, every individual comprised in it is important as people collectively in a particular area or city makes a socially interactive group. When a society, community or a country loses a person to suicide, the loss is not restricted to one sphere. A person has lot to contribute to the community, society or country in an economical, political or social context. So when a person commits suicide, the grievance is not limited to the immediate family member but to the whole society, community or group. According to (Jagat,2010)“Mental health and well-being could have important consequences affecting the physical and social well-being of the man and may even threaten his ability to maintain the biological integrity to survive as a human organism”. The economical productivity of a country is largely depended upon the health and well being of a person. If the citizens of a country get accustomed to depression and fall prey to suicide then the prosperity of a country comes to an end. As seen of today, suicidal attempts have taken a toll on a country’s progression and economical booming. When a person undergoes depression he lacks interest in career and employment and this decreases the manpower potentiality of the country. If we observe from a psychological point, a suicidal case is a loss to many business organization and industrial establishment of a country. iv) Suicidal tendency brings a negative energy to the personality of a person Suicide is a negative act and obviously anything relate to it can be negative as well. It is natural for a person with suicidal tendency to be aggressive and violence prone. Suicide is developed in a person who is aggressive and eccentric in real life. Only a person bound by negative thoughts can develop courage to end their life for no eligible reason. It is a fact that, every person encounters hardship in life and suicide is not a thought coming into the mind of a positive minded person. The person with suicidal tendency is always surrounded by hopeless thoughts and negativity about prospective future. They always thing earth is the worst place to live in and they cannot bring in any goodness or prosperity to the world around them. The suicide itself is a negative phenomenon and everything attached to it brings in negativity. From a psychosocial perspective, the suicide brings in negative emotional behavior to a person. These people are always in a depressive state and their personality is of ignorance and suppressive nature. Mostly, the people who attempt for suicide hate themselves and people around them. They are usually, so negative that they believe every activity and endeavors in life are meaningless and unnecessary. Their negative personality makes them believe that there is no meaning in life and suicide is the best option for them. If one contemplates well on this subject, suicidal thought is the heights of negativity a person can get. v) Suicidal tendency can induce violence and aggression in the person affected When we look at the subject of suicide, the first thing which comes in to the mind of a person is violence and aggression. Basically, the very concept of suicide is based on violence and aggression. Only a person who is violently turbulent can think about ending one’s life for no genuine reason. Usually a person is persuaded to think about suicide because they have consistent encounter with painful experience and losses in life. A person when accustomed to painful experience starts to resort to pain as the obvious means to give them relief in life. As per (Perry,2011)“It may appear to others that suicide or an attempt at suicide is an impulsive act, especially if a person is misusing alcohol or drugs, or responding to a sudden crisis”. It is mostly likely that people who have suicidal thoughts are drug abusers or persons with mental illnesses. The people with suicidal thoughts are more often pessimistic and less educated about the purpose of life. It is also a fact that, people grown in a violent atmosphere has more tendency to resort to violence and aggression and get influenced to attempt for suicide in future. These people who are with suicidal thoughts helps the psychologist experts to understand what lead them to worthless feelings and thoughts. If we contemplate on suicidal process sharply, we can understand that depressed and pessimistic people accompanied by violence and aggressive act commit suicide. Conclusion As human beings, it is natural for all of us to come across phases in life which are of difficult and overwhelming nature. Naturally, the very meaning of life is to overcome hard situation and uncertainties we come across at different points in life. However, it has become a general phenomenon for some weak and sensitive people to resort to suicide in an attempt to escape from hardships of life. If we look at suicide from a psychosocial theoretical point of view, suicide is an act that is emerged due to the distortive mental composition of a person. For the very same reason, the psychological field and personality theorist impose a great importance to the concept of suicide. Only by giving additional priority to the people with suicidal tendency can experts and theorist evaluate and analyze the core reasons behind this mental malady. Unfortunately, there are many losses occurring to the community, society and country due to the prevalence of suicide tendency among people. It is not necessary that suicide or ending of life only can bring devastation to family, society and community of a person. Actually, a person with suicidal tendency is more dangerous and can topple down the life of their immediate relatives and loved ones catastrophically. So it is highly critical for the family member s and acquaintance of a suicidal prone people to handle the victim in an educative and sophisticated manner. And as suicide is end of life of a person, the psychological and personality theorist give additional interest to this social evil of society. References Dryden, R. (2011, October). Suicide. In medicinenet.com. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.medicinenet.com/suicide/article.htm Geberth, V. J. (1996). THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUICIDE An Investigative Assessment. LAW and ORDER, 44(9). Gold, N. (2012, April 19). SUICIDE.A CURSE OR PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM?? . In ngozigold.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://www.ngozigold.com/2012/04/suicidea-curse-or-psychological-problem.html Joiner, T. (2009, June). The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Current Empirical Status. In apa.org. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://www.apa.org/ science/ about/ psa/2009/06/sci-brief.aspx Jagat, b. (2010, November 29). MENTAL HEALTH AND PREVENTION OF SUICIDE. In http://bhavanajagat.com. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://bhavanajagat.com/2010/11/29/mental-health-and-prevention-of-suicide/ Perry, K. (2011). How to cope with suicidal feelings. In mind.org.uk. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/suicidal_feelings Read More