Reduction of Youth Suicide in Rural Communities - Essay Example

Interpersonal theory of suicide: Reduction of Youth Suicide in Rural Communities and Abstract Youth suicide has hit all-time high in many societies prompting the need to address the issue urgently. People as young as 20 years are ending their life deliberately, with the society citing a couple of reasons. Statistics reveals that suicide is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers in many countries including United States and Australia. Sociologists cite suicide contagion as an alarming factor in this phenomenon where youths tend to commit suicide if someone influential or significant in their life commits suicide. With increased loss of young people, there is need to come up with appropriate measures to curb the issue, and save lives of individuals that mean everything to the future of every society. Sociologists lead the course and seek to apply a couple of theories to reduce suicide in the society. Interpersonal theory of suicide has been cited as the best among others in explaining the tendencies associated with suicidal behavior among people of all ages in many societies out there. The reliability of the theory has never been in contention, and its ability to be tested empirically proves to be an additional strength. It’s structured in a manner that allows for falsifiability with many studies providing supporting facts of the theory. We shall apply and analyze the theory and see how sociologists would use it to reduce suicide commission among youths. Interpersonal theory of suicide in Reduction of Youth Suicide in Rural Communities The interpersonal suicide theory was developed by Thomas Joiner. The hypothesis proposes that, a person will not die by suicide not unless he or she desires to die by suicide and above all he has the capability to die as such (Joiner, 2005). The desire for death is attributed to the tendency of people holding two specific psychological states in their mind at the same time, an element that yields desire for death if held upon for a long time. The desire for death is not enough for suicide to occur, but it would call for the capacity of the individual to acquire the capability to overcome his or her natural fear of death. This ability does not come easily in normal circumstances as every individual has a strong sense of natural-preservation-instinct that many can’t manage to overcome by forced will (Joiner, Why people die by suicide, 2005). Those who overcome it manage so through developed fearlessness of injury, pain, and death, something attributed to persistent exposure to painful and pretty provocative events. Joiner lists a couple of experiences that would yield fearlessness to pain, injury and death. Self-injuries, accidental injuries, physical confrontations and demanding occupations like frontline soldier where one fears no pain or death also bring forth fearlessness. Going back to the youths affair, the idea of fearlessness to death is practically and element that would be attributed to a number of factors in their environment. The theory can help identify such factors and save thousands of lives lost every year. In a broad perspective, we see three proponents in this theory. The victim has two psychological states, normally perceived as Burdensomeness. It is a sense of low belongingness or a sense of social alienation, and thirdly, the acquired ability to enact the lethal self-injury (Joiner, 2005). A keen analysis of the three proponents would help sociologists apply the discussed elements in reducing the suicidal deaths of youths in the society. Perceived Burdensomeness This proponent suggests that an individual perceives himself as a burden to the entire society. He or she feels like his or her existence is a burden and bother to family, friends and other societal stakeholders (Joiner, The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Current Empirical Status, 2009). This feeling tends to pose a fatal misconception to the individual as it prompts desire to pull out from the society. High levels of the perceived situation will tend to induce suicidal thoughts in the individual. The belief is normally false and tends to draw the individual from actual reality. This proponent would help sociologists address this problem from one perspective. Youths that feel like a burden to the society should be easily identified before they engage in self-destructive behavior. The society can work closely with specialists and make it easier to identify victims of this phenomenon. Thwarted belongingness/ social alienation This proponent focuses on the perceived sense of attachment to members of a given social circle (Joiner, Why people die by suicide, 2005). Finding touch with family members, relatives, and friends or other valued group means a lot too many individuals. Those who feel alienated socially tend to be drawn to solitude and withdrawal leading to open chances of suicidal thoughts. Many youths have been subject to alienation in the society today. Gay teenagers transgendered individuals, and racial minorities have been subject to alienation. The society has taken way too long to identify sexual orientation as unique to every individual. Moral ambassadors especially religions have condemned homosexuals from dawn till dusk. The society even associates such orientations with some stigma seeing many victims living in denial in fear of alienation. Those who come out have sometimes been denounced in public and humiliated at the same time. They have been withdrawn and even renounced by their families. They are subjected to a sense of lack of belongingness prompting suicidal thoughts and desires. Those racially abused feels like they don’t have a place in the society. They are secluded from many social affairs, and some chose to withdraw from such activities. Some of such abuse happens in broad daylight leaving little to be desired. Players have been racially abused much time especially in gatherings where they happen to be minorities. They experience thwarted belongingness and prefer to withdraw into solitude and loneliness. Such withdraw initiates desire to self-harm and injury and avoid the suffering that comes with social alienation. Suicidal thoughts overcome the instincts of self-preservation leading to suicide, in the long run. People who are socially connected with others have a better sense of belonging, an element that does well to suppress suicidal thoughts. Family gatherings draw people together strengthening social attachments. The come-together that are common during the festive seasons tend to create a celebratory mood, and few suicide deaths are recorded at such times. Youths who find touch with sports teams is not vulnerable to suicidal thoughts. Being a member of a given football team tend to create a sense of belonging. An education system that involves the youths in group activities tends to enhance social cohesion among them. They find touch with one another in terms of sports, debates, cooperative learning, seminars, academic tours and many other ways. Such learners have no time to themselves to engage in self-destructive ideas and thoughts. They are occupied with goals that are tied to others thus have the tendencies to meet the tied obligation. They are more committed to fulfilling matter at hand for the sake of the group involved. Reduced group activities subject such learners to solitude and self-commitments. They pay more attention to their fears and their sub-conscious thoughts in most of the time. The reduced social attachment with friends prompts desires to find some who might not be there especially when they engage in personal projects that have no place for socialization. Some perceive that as being ‘unwanted’ and suffer crashed self-esteem. Their withdrawal doesn’t help the situation as the society is not aware of what they are going through in their life. Failure to attend to such youths prompts suicidal thoughts that might finally lead to suicide commission, in the long run. Acquired ability to enact self-harm This is the third proponent of interpersonal suicide theory. Joiner suggests that the above two stated proponents are not enough for the victim to commit suicide. The individual must attain the ability to overcome the fear of death in the first place. This comes with consistent exposure to pain and provocative situations (Joiner, Why people die by suicide, 2005). People who experience disturbed childhood and traumas that come with such situations are likely to overcome fear of death relatively easier than others. They tend to look at injury and harm as less painful as the pain persists. The continuous presence of pain as a stimulus tends to build internal resistance that betters with time. This makes such individuals beat the self-preservation instinct. They don’t fear death and the pain that come with the entire process. Doctors like surgeons experience a lot in their profession and might be in a position to overcome fear of death as they experience it every day. Soldiers and policemen deal with battles and crimes and cheat death every second. They see people die as they kill some. They see death as an everyday thing. Such people are not afraid to die and happen to suppress the self-preservation mechanism far easier than others. People who have engaged in suicidal behavior before are more prone to suicide deaths than others, as first experience altered the fear of the death instinct. There is a chance of perpetual habituation that earns them the ability to commit suicide, in the long run. Implications and the interactive nature of the theory The theory does well to address every single proponent separately, practically illustrating how a suicidal thought leads to the actual act of suicide. The interactive nature between thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness have been proved to prompt suicidal thoughts through study. The tendencies to have a situation where youths and other members of the society are being alienated socially have been practically proven to substantiate suicidal thoughts and behavior. With so many youths with structural complications, leaving them out of our social circles has been proven to yield desire for death. Homosexuals and transgendered individuals have always committed suicide due to alienation, abuse, and other mistreatments. Studies have indicated that a sense of burdensomeness subjects the victims to suicidal ideations that earn them the ability to overcome pain and fear for death. They involve in suicidal activities that builds this ability even further. Subsequent suicide attempts suppress the self-preservation instincts, and eventually such individuals commit suicide. Studies in the theory have earned it empirical base and facts to support it. It has illuminated the need for the society and the health care to be conscious of the levels of belongingness, burdensomeness and acquired capability among their patients. The components of the theory provide a knowledge base that is applicable to clinicians in detecting suicidal behavior (Joiner, The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Current Empirical Status, 2009). Application and use of interpersonal theory of suicide to reduce youth suicide The interpersonal theory of suicide is constructed around empirical and theoretical foundations providing some basis for application in the contemporary society. It illuminates the need by the governments and other relevant bodies to engage in research related to youth suicide and issue sound proposals on the matter. There is need to conduct surveys and evaluations in a way that pools collected data and performs comparisons that cut across communities, social institutions, and geographical regions. Communities should work together with the researchers to help gather reliable information about the subject topic. The gathered data should be well shared and disseminated to the public to enlighten and better their awareness. This information should be used to address suicide among the young people. The society and health centers should see the need to incorporate the findings into their systems for better results in prevention of the suicide menace. Many youths have been neglected by the society subjecting them to a sense of alienation and detachment. Such research would reveal what they feel about themselves and shed some light on what should be addressed. Bashing the youths off every time they have an opinion does not help the situation. The society looks at the young generation as one that has strayed with no sense to listen. Abandoning them as many researchers prove subjects those to situations where they make misinformed decisions. Researchers suggest that many suicides death are suffered by people who are not old enough to make sound decisions. Empirical studies reveal risk factors that prompt young people to commit suicide. We have to agree that the interpersonal theory of suicide does not underscore all these factors, but it lays a platform on how to identify them. Researchers have found elements associated with some increased probability that the matter in question will occur. These are the areas that clinicians and the society have to address. Thomas Joiner cites burdensomeness and social alienation. Such factors are attributed to several matters in the society. Research has it that family conflict is one of them. A family characterized with dispute is likely to subject some members to difficulties. A kid that goes through violence at home is likely to be traumatized. This affects their personality and may lead to withdrawing from social places. Their exposure to extreme pain will suppress their self-preservation instinct and yield suicidal thoughts. Poor parentage may prompt youths to feel like failures in the society. They are reminded that they are dependents and end up feeling like a burden to the society and the family. They pull aside and develop a desire for death. They earn the ability to overcome the fear of death and finally commit suicide. Familial stress is an area that needs to be addressed. Families should enhance cohesion between members to reduce such death. The youths should be supported morally at family level through increased attention and understanding. Scolding them and humiliating them will just worsen the situation. The future of the nation will be at stake. The interpersonal theory of suicide has underscored the aspect of burdensomeness as an element that prompts suicidal behavior. Empirical study suggests that mental disorders as some of the risk factors that increase the chances of suicide commission. Many mental patients feel like a burden to their families and the society. We might be attempted to imagine that some are not conscious of the medical conditions. Those on their path of recovery become aware of themselves and the social stigma that comes with the condition. When the families are straining to help them out, they might perceive themselves as a burden and again as a source of embarrassment to their families. They will tend to give in to suicidal thoughts especially at a time when they are not stable mentally. Making sound decisions would be difficult and end up committing suicide. There is need to focus attention on such youths for proper Medicare. Clinicians have the obligation to extend adequate health care in order to detect and identify risky behavior among such youthful patients. Clinicians and the society should be keen to identify people with previous suicide attempts. The interpersonal theory of suicide underscores this as one of the factors that tend to build the capability to overcome the fear of death. Subsequent attempts to commit suicide finally suppress the fear of death leading to suicide. Such individuals should be well counseled and loved by the society. They should be more engaged in constructive activities in the society. Some physical illnesses among the youth come with social alienation and a sense of burdensomeness. HIV/AIDS is a disease that associated with some social stigma. The patients are looked upon with negative attention, and many people wouldn’t want anything to do with them. Such people are left out of many social circles leading to alienation and solitude. Such people commit suicide far easily than any other group. There is a need to spare adequate medical attention for such people to reduce their death through suicide. Counseling and social acceptance would help a great deal of them. Such youths would find touch with others and live longer than expected. Unemployment among the youths is a source of stress and depression. They have to be dependent on a society that is already strained by other commitments. They live and at the mercy of parents, guardians, and well-wishers. This creates a sense of burdensomeness among them. This consequently yields suicidal thoughts that finally lead to the real act if no action is taken. The society should create occupation to occupy the youths and benefit them become self-reliant. This will serve to eliminate and reduce suicidal thoughts. The interpersonal theory of suicide is well structured to address suicide in our society. Complementing it with other theories would help address the loss related to suicides committed by the youths. These young people are the future of the nation, and their persistent deaths put everybody’s life at stake. The society, sociologists, and the clinicians should join hands and safeguard the lives of these people. REFERENCES Joiner, T. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Joiner, T. (2009, June). The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior: Current Empirical Status. Retrieved Jan 23, 2015, from American Psychological Association: www.apa.org. Read More