“We must illuminate the dark corners of taboo and stigma. We must silence the loud voices of ignorance”—Adina Wroblesky.
In today’s political environment, it is extremely difficult to watch the evening news or read the morning paper without being reminded of terrorism and suicide bombers. Still, the social conspiracy of silence a suicide is very much alive and thriving. No subject is more misunderstood, even today, than suicide. still one of the last taboos So great is the taboo on suicide that some people will not say the word, some newspapers will not publish reports about it. And too often, scientists have avoided it as a research topic. For example, I have checked EzineArticles and found only one article about suicide on the list of complaint and lossanother indication that the taboo he’s at work. As I have already hinted, the bottom line is that people will kill each other, and that playing ostrich does not in the least diminish this reality. “Suicide,” writes the English poet and critic A. Alvarez in the notes, “has permeated Western culture like a dye that cannot be washed away.” The Wild God: A Study in Suicide.
Historical background
In Western culture, suicide has always been a taboo and an ecclesiastical prohibition, many religions consider the act of taking their own life to be such a sin that they will not allow a person who committed suicide to be buried in “permitted” floor. For example, in the early years of Christianity, Saint Augustine (AD 345-430) declared suicide to be a mortal sin and a century later, the Christian Church forbade saying masses for the souls of those who committed suicide, and denied burial in a holy place. The last recorded “non-sacred” burial of a suicide in Britain occurred in 1823. Families go to great lengths to conceal a suicide and there is tremendous shame associated with the act of suicide.
Suicide has occurred consistently throughout recorded history in all cultural and social settings. However, attitudes towards suicide changed a lot in different times, cultures and societies. In ancient Greece and Rome, suicide was viewed primarily as an honorable or heroic form of death. Once again, the mass suicide of Jews on Masada in AD 73. C. was perceived as an honorable act to avoid falling into the hands of the defeated Roman army. In Japan, the Samurai ritual was codified for different methods of suicide that bring them death rather than dishonor. Even today in Japan there is little stigma associated with suicide, which may explain Japan’s high suicide rates.
In the Hindu faith there is a general rule taboo against suicide, especially among men. The concept of altruistic suicide is acceptable, there is also an honorable tradition associated with grieving women committing suicide. For example, widows often commit suicide by burning themselves to fulfill their true role as wives. In another example, surviving members of the Taino Indian tribe jumped from high cliffs in Puerto Rico to escape capture after Christopher Columbus’s men had already killed two-thirds of the tribe. Many Africans being transported from Africa were known to take their own lives rather than be enslaved in the so-called The new World.
criminalized the act of suicide
Until the 1950s in Britain, people were sent to prison for attempting suicide. The Suicide Act 1961 repealed the law under which both actual suicides and attempted suicides were criminal acts. England and Wales were the last countries in Europe to decriminalize suicide. The classification of suicide is not so far-fetched the word suicide itself has the implication of being a criminal act, which literally means self-murder
The power of the social taboo
Suicide it is a significant cause of death in the United States, in some cases surpassing deaths from automobile accidents annually. Many states spend a lot of money on safer roads, but spend very little, if any, on suicide awareness and prevention.
Consider for a moment what society’s reaction would be if 35,000 airline passengers were killed in plane crashes each year in the United States. It can be safely assumed that there would be a political and social uprising demanding that the airline industry make safety improvements immediately. In 2004, six students committed suicide by throwing themselves from tall buildings on the campus of new york university; according to the NYU spokesman, two students committed suicide in the same week. If six students were murdered, in less than a year, on the campus of a major American university, the public would demand accountability. And state officials would mount a full frontal attack on the problem. Tea mass media he would set up camp outside the university asking questions and interviewing everyone within range of his cameras and microphones. However, in neither of the two cases were there demands for accountability or social outrage over political interventions. In fact, if she lived outside of the New York City area, he may not have read or heard of these suicides. Yes, suicide is clearly a taboo I fear that society walks on tiptoe.
Lack of coping ability: not mental illness
Suicide attempts and suicidal ideation are often a symptom that the individual is not coping very well. This inability to cope is often the result of some event or series of events that the person finds overwhelmingly traumatic gold distressing. In many cases, the events in question will pass, the impact can be mitigated, the overwhelming nature will gradually fade if the individual can make constructive decisions when the crisis is at its height. In the vast majority of cases, a person attempting suicide would make different choices if she were not in severe distress and could objectively assess her options. Most suicide bombers give warning signs in the hope of being rescued, because the main intention is to stop their emotional pain and not die.
Most people who commit suicide do not have a diagnosable mental illness. They are people like you and me who sometimes feel isolated, hopelessly unhappy and alone. suicide Thoughts and actions may be the result of stress and loss in life that the person feels they cannot cope with and just wants the pain to stop.
In a society where there is much stigma and ignorance With regard to mental illness, a person who is feeling suicidal may fear that others will think they are suicidal. crazy if they express how they feel, and may be reluctant to seek help in a crisis. People suffering from a mental illness such as schizophrenia or clinical depression have significantly higher than average suicide rates, but are still a minority of those who attempt it. For these people, having their condition correctly diagnosed may indicate that proper treatment can begin to address the problem.
For additional information on suicide facts and myths: http://www.crisislink.org