As the saying by Mae West goes “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” According to the Hindu mythology, after several births and rebirths, GOD gave us a human life Human birth provides a great opportunity to pursue the Purusharthas which aims for the attainment of the four goals of human life which include dharma (righteousness), wealth (artha), desire (kama), and salvation (moksha). Despite having a brief life span, there is an inbuilt chance to gain access to the knowledge of GOD or to find out the real talent in you, experience his infinite greatness and seek salvation. It is believed that after attaining these goals a person can seek salvation happily and merrily and dedicate his life back to GOD.
Why do people commit suicide?
As the saying by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar goes “People commit suicide to escape misery but they do not realize it puts them in greater misery. It is like, someone is shivering in the cold and he goes out and removes his jacket.” When the situation becomes unbearable one thinks that the only option to end all his miseries or sufferings is to end the life itself. Suicide is among the top three causes of death among youth worldwide. According to the WHO, every year, almost 800,000 people die from suicide and 20 times more people attempt suicide; a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds and one attempt every 3 seconds, on average. There can be many reasons behind committing suicide by a person such as mental disorders, including depression, autism, substance abuse like alcohol, etc. Some suicides are also a result of impulsive actions like stress from financial difficulties, relationship problems such as breakups or bullying.
Durkheim's theories of suicide
According to the Émile Durkheim’s (French Social Scientist) study of suicide, suicide appeared to be less frequent where the individual was closely integrated into society or in other words, those lacking a strong social identification would be more susceptible to suicide. Thus, the apparently purely individual decision to renounce life could be explained through social forces. From his theories, it was clear that Suicide is the result of social disorganization or lack of social integration or social solidarity.
He gave a classification of suicides on the basis of different types of relationship between the actor and his society.The first one is egoistic suicide, according to which, when a man becomes socially isolated or feels that he has no place in the society, he destroys himself. This is the suicide of a self-centered person who is usually cut off from mainstream society. The second type of suicide is Altruistic suicide, which means the type of suicide that occurs when individuals and the group are too close and intimate. This kind of suicide results from the over-integration of the individual into social proof, for example - Sati customs. The third type of suicide is Anomic suicide, which is a type of suicide that occurs due to a certain breakdown of social equilibrium, such as, suicide after bankruptcy or after winning a lottery. In other words, anomic suicide takes place in a situation that has cropped up suddenly. The last type of suicide is Fatalistic suicide which is a type of suicide that takes place due to overregulation in society. Under the overregulation of a society, when a servant or slave commits suicide, when a barren woman commits suicide, it is the example of fatalistic suicide.
Authors Take
By suiciding or curbing one’s own life, a person not only kills his own desires or wishes but also of the people who are associated with him/her which includes his near and dear ones like family, friends, colleagues, etc. The entire nation was startled after the death of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput who chose the action of ending his life just because of some problems or tensions that he was facing—probably from both his reel and real life.
Just like a diamond cutter who tries his best to turn a stone into a beautiful piece of diamond, the same way a teacher with all his hard efforts tries to bring the best potential in a student. To check the student’s understanding of a particular subject and to make the student shine, a teacher takes a test. Same way GOD takes our test by giving us an unpredictable question paper that is a life full of both easy and difficult situations and it’s on us that we can either run out of the situation or face it out boldly and hit a huge six.
It’s very important to understand that problems are temporary but suicide is permanent. Taking your own life is never the right solution whatsoever and howsoever a difficult or challenging problem you may be in. If someone is having suicidal thoughts, then he/she should understand that they are not alone. You should also know that feeling suicidal isn’t a character flaw, and it doesn’t mean you’re crazy or weak. It only means that you’re facing more pain or sadness than you can cope up with right now. Therefore, it is important for you to give yourself some time and hope for the circumstances to change and for the pain to subside. One should always stay hopeful and positive despite the remorse situation you may be in. Just count the number of blessings you have from your family or friends. Try to talk to your parents and your friends about the situation you are facing or experiencing. They can guide you on the right path and also you can seek medical assistance and I feel definitely you will get a solution.
Always remember this golden quote that ‘when life gives you lemons make a lemonade’ and start bit by bit to replace your negative thoughts with the positive ones and you will surely start getting positive results and you will pass the question paper of life with vibrant, vivid and flying colors.
By Nandini Gupta
Amity University, Haryana