SUICIDE.

For men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent......sent into the world by his order and about his business, they are his property, whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another's pleasure.

......Everyone as he is bound to preserve himself, and not to quit his station wilfully.....

                                                       -JOHN LOCKE

Locke believed that even an individual's life was not his own, but was given by god as a trust, meaning we had no right to destroy or kill ourselves nor could we destroy, kill, Rob or enslave other beings who were equal to us before God.

Philosophical views like this are necessary as long as they could persuade one to not to kill oneself.

According to the world health organisation, more than 700000 people die due to suicide every year and if we could accumulate all the unreported data on suicide and suicide attempts, the numbers would be much higher.

Generally, in a wider sense, fear of death and self-preservation are the guiding factors and compulsions of life— then what is it that compels an individual to intentionally take his own life.

This is a hard question we need to ask ourselves. Suicide is complex and is rarely attributed to any one factor.

The problem is, it is not talked about and suicidal thoughts are generally considered abnormal—that only a weak man would give up on life or that there's something wrong with someone if they get suicidal thoughts or that talking about it will plant that idea in someone's head. These assumptions can't be more wrong and baseless.

It's time we start talking openly about it and accept that suicidal thoughts are in fact something that happens.

However, there's a big difference between having suicidal thoughts and actually doing it. Suicidal thoughts are common (ranging from mild to severe as a result to a particular context), they happen to a lot of people but it's the actual act of suicide that is devastating to everyone around.

A major factor responsible for suicides is depression (which is very different from grief or sadness). Depression could be of short-term, long-term or recurring—professional help might also be needed.

[The subject of depression, I believe, is too complicated to be deliberated upon by me].

Perhaps, this poem by Emily Dickinson could give you an idea of what depression feels like because such a mental state cannot be described but can be understood and felt in the soul through art.

-HOW DO YOU PREVENT SUICIDE?

Imagine you know someone suicidal.

What would you say? Would you know what to say?

-Well, it's not just the talking that you do but the listening. Listen to the tale that the agonizing soul has to tell, listen to understand and not to answer. It is very difficult for a person in a suicidal state of mind to open up to someone but if they do open up to tell you what situation they are in, then you must be an important person in their life or at least in that moment. 

Be compassionate to their vulnerability, as, compassion is much greater than compensation.

Don't argue, blame or tell the person that you know how they feel because you probably don't.

People who commit suicide often don't want to die; "they just don't want to live". They become temporarily too weak to stand for themselves. They just need the unbearable pain to stop somehow, anyhow!

Preventing suicide comes down to all of us.

Let's start talking about mental health frequently and acknowledge that self-care is more than a trendy term or a fad — mental health has to be a priority.

When you put your hands over your heart, you can feel the evidence of being alive and understand that it's a gift. A gift of god or so to say, of nature.

  YOU NEED TO BE HERE TO SEE THE LIFE 

          THAT IS WAITING FOR YOU. and

YOU NEED TO BE HERE FOR THOSE 

WHOM YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOURS.