Written By: Rtr. Sarith Kovilage
Life is a journey on a rough path; while people hustle to make it till the end, someone might find himself tangled in chaos, feeling there is no way forward but to end the journey. Yet sometimes, all it takes is a little push to lift him out of chaos, and he can move ahead again, maybe even stronger than before.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), each year approximately 700,000 people lose their lives to suicide, fueled by countless reasons. This suggests that every 40 seconds, a suicide takes place somewhere around the world. Therefore, suicide is often referred to as a ‘silent epidemic.’
Countless measures have been taken so far to battle this issue, among which the Suicide Prevention Day holds a prominent position. Every year on September 10th, the world observes this day, organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and co-sponsored by the WHO. This awareness day aims at minimizing the suicides that take place around the world and was first observed in 2003. Ever since then, the WHO, in collaboration with various other organizations, has conducted a wide range of programs designed to address specific issues related to suicide.
The theme of the Suicide Prevention Day 2025 is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide,” which is the triennial theme for World Suicide Prevention Day (2024–2026). It emphasizes challenging harmful myths, reducing stigma, and fostering open, compassionate conversations about suicide, and places greater attention on shifting from silence and misunderstanding to openness, empathy, and support — creating environments where people feel able to speak up and seek help.
Impact Of Suicides
Suicide remains a critical issue in every country, given its heavy negative consequences on a multitude of aspects. Loss of a loved one’s life has a direct emotional impact on the individual’s family and the community, such as shock, trauma, and grief. On top of it, social stigma poses an obstacle for families to speak openly about their loss, making the healing process even more difficult. Additionally, suicide also causes economic burdens such as increased medical costs and loss of productivity, though the sad truth is that no soul deserves its worth to be matched to dollars. This wide array of consequences makes suicide prevention a crucial matter.
What Drives Someone to Suicide?
The driving factors behind suicide are multifaceted and often arise after futile attempts to cope with difficulties and being unable to seek out choices other than harming oneself. Some of such factors include mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, failures in relationships, traumatic experiences, chronic stress, societal pressures, and unfillable responsibilities. These factors, mostly accompanied by having no one to listen to, can cause someone to lose hope for life.
While isolation can hold back a person from openly expressing their struggles to someone else, there are always warning signs, known as red flags, which may imply the person has lost interest in life. Hence it’s essential for us to be attentive to people around us and read these signs to prevent yet another soul from leaving this world too early.
Preventing Suicide
Read
The first step to prevent a suicide is to ‘Read’ the Signs. These signs may vary from subtle swings in mood to dramatic changes in behavior. Some of the common warning signs include:
- Withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities
- Expressing purposelessness in life
- Being reckless or taking dangerous risks
- Showing intense guilt or self-blame
- Giving away cherished belongings
Recognizing these promptly can save lives.
Listen
The next step is to ‘Listen.’ This is the simplest, yet the most effective way to prevent someone from harming their own life. Often, what people who struggle with coping difficulties need is someone to listen. Therefore, being a good listener can make an enormous difference in the life of the individual contemplating suicide and bring back hope. What is important to keep in mind is to ‘listen without judgement’ as that enables the individual to express their concerns more openly. By listening, we can show our empathy and understand his difficulties, so an appropriate solution can be discovered. However, we should not belittle the issue by suggesting quick fixes. Rather, a more effective approach is to take time, acknowledge the validity of his issue, and convince him that suicide is NEVER the option to overcome the issue.
Act
Thereafter, it is the time to ‘Act.’ Depending on the situation, an appropriate support measure should be taken to ensure that the individual’s life is not at risk anymore. These measures may include counselling, awareness programs, coping strategies, and medications. Nowadays, multiple organizations are working towards suicide prevention, making access to these supportive measures easy. Collectively, these 3 steps: ‘Read. Listen. Act is the primary method for preventing someone from committing suicide.
Yet further strategic measures are to be developed to eliminate the root causes of suicide, as the immediate measures are only effective in the short term. Governments can join hands with various organizations to design programs to strengthen the resilience of individuals to withstand unforeseen adverse circumstances. Suicide Prevention hotlines and Chat Services can be introduced to provide individuals with a convenient method to express their issues openly to professionals and experts in Psychology and other related fields, so that appropriate coping strategies, such as medication, may be suggested to the individuals. Additionally, parents and teachers must take measures to ensure that the children do not develop trauma or stress that may later become a risk factor for suicide, through regular supervision and creating a safe and stress-free environment for them.
In conclusion, people who commit suicide are not always selfish or mentally ill. It is very often the case that the prolonged distress they undergo exhausts their capacity in seeking out rational approaches to address the issue, causing them to myopically go for suicide, perceiving that it is the only option left. On Suicide Prevention Day, it sets a poignant reminder for all of us that “Even the longest nights give way to dawn.” Just the same way, there is ALWAYS a solution to our difficulties, and suicide is NEVER even an option!
Graphic Design by: Rtr. Buthma Menali
0 Comments