Suicide

We can't just continue to ignore suicide rates.
We have to make a change.

On February 13, 2014, 15-year old Jayah Shaileya Ram Jackson climbed up to the roof of her grandmother’s apartment building in New York City and plunged 17 stories to her death. The week of the suicide, she had been “joking” on Facebook about killing herself, posting things like “at least 8 people have told me they want me to kill myself in the past 2 days” and “I’m actually just going to wait for someone to make a petition for me to kill myself because it’s inevitable...like, we all see it coming.” And that Thursday, it did come.

Suicide is a huge problem in society today, and it is one that has to be fixed. The cost is life.

Jayah is not the only one. According to the Huffington Post, one person kills himself every 15 minutes. Suicide is the 2nd most common cause of death in American youth ages 15-24. According to a journal from the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine, about 12 out of every 100,000 people worldwide kill themselves every year. 

One can only ask why. Why do so many people take their own lives? One reason could be lack of religious belief. According to an Israeli study published in the journal “European Psychiatry,” religious Jewish teens are much less likely to commit suicide than secular Jewish teens. Of the 620 teens studied, the most religious were 45% less likely to commit suicide. The study also found that those teens who exhibited “extrinsic” spirituality (regular church attendance, for example) were less likely to consider suicide than teens who saw spirituality as “intrinsic.” However, the researchers noted that Jewish religiosity was not linked with less depression. Instead, religiosity “enhanced effective coping mechanisms.” Teens who were more religious weren’t less depressed, they were just better at dealing with their depression. The research and conclusions from the study strongly suggested that religion protects against suicide. Lots of people in this world live for God and their religion, and when someone is confused and doesn’t understand God or life after death, it often leads to them not understanding themselves or their purpose, and that leads to them taking their own lives.

Another reason for suicide could be media exposure. This was shown in a study published in the online journal “The Lancet Psychiatry.” Earlier studies showed increases in suicide rates after high-profile suicides, especially by celebrities. For example, suicide rates increased by 12% in the United States after the death of Marilyn Monroe. The more recent study identified suicide clusters in young people ages 13-20 between the years 1988 and 1996. It also identified suicidal media exposure during that time period and how that correlated with suicide rates. Although it did not prove that the media contributed to the suicide rates, the study suggests that many media guidelines developed in recent years (guidelines that have to do with avoiding detailed, sensational coverage of individual suicide cases) have diminished suicide rates. It seems like more and more stories appear on the news every day about individuals that kill themselves. When people who are struggling and going through hard times see these stories, it creates in them consideration to make suicide an option for themselves.

However, above all, the biggest reason that people kill themselves (possibly along with these other reasons) is that people either feel like they are not needed and disconnected from others or they feel like a burden to others. People who consider suicide feel unloved and uncared about. They feel like the world wouldn’t suffer or would even be a better place without them. When these thoughts and feelings combine with feelings of hopelessness; when people feel like their life isn’t going to change or get better, that’s when suicidal consideration becomes serious and dangerous. 

The blame for these feelings in people definitely has something to do with the selfishness of mankind. Generally in this world, people care more about themselves than about others. If humans could realize that in reality, everyone would benefit more if everyone cared about others more than themselves, then these feelings would not exist. Everyone would feel love from others, and nobody would feel alone. Unfortunately, there will always be people that only care about themselves. There will always be those that argue: “When my focus is always on others, my needs will never be met because I need time for myself.” But nature shows this argument to be false. Happiness comes into one’s life when one is involved in a cause that is bigger and more important than himself. Focusing on others not only allows an individual to forget their own problems, it helps him to feel a sense of love and caring from others because he is exhibiting those feelings to others. In short, focusing on others helps one to feel needed. This eliminates feelings of being an obstacle in others’ lives by simply creating the opposite feeling: being a crutch or a help in someone’s life. The principle is simple. In order to lift yourself, you have to lift others. That is where happiness, purpose, and fulfilment comes from. That is what stops suicide. 

So how can we fix this problem? How can we bring suicide rates down? The first thing that must be done is a switch of mindset. Instead of always being worried about our daily activities in our own lives, we must open up our eyes and see that there are people struggling that need help. Often we don’t know and we don’t see that even people that seem really happy and fulfilled are in reality struggling with suicidal feelings. Take Robin Williams, for example. The renowned actor and comedian who brought joy to millions of people took his own life just three months ago. Those who were not close to him had absolutely no idea that he was struggling, because he was hiding it. Many people are hiding it, we just have to open up our eyes and see. Selflessness is the first step to stopping suicide. With that selflessness comes love and caring. Sometimes, people don’t need you to fix their problems for them. They just need to know that someone cares about them. They just need to feel love from someone, and that will give them reason to live. You can be that one person in someone’s life that keeps them alive. It is worth it just to save one person from killing themselves. Care about others more than yourself. All you have to do is show them that you love them, and maybe one day, suicide will cease.