Suicide – a choice to commit to one’s own end, and bring upon unending misery to, often more than death itself, to many more. Life is full of ups and downs, but somewhere along the line, one forgets that they have a greater purpose in life. They forget that they’re unique and one of a kind, have something flowing in their blood and veins that no other does, a special quality, a talent!
To end one’s own life, sometimes a way for people to escape pain or suffering, but it never is a solution to any purposeful thing, for it is against the very nature of living beings to not fight back, or try not to do so. Just as there is good to any evil, nourishment to a hunger, there always is a solution to everything, no matter how tough the situation may be. There’s seeking, introspecting, asking and approaching people, unmuting ourselves in even as simple as just talking to people. But sometimes, all these seem helpless to a few, they feel hopeless and miserable and choose to end their lives, this is how they put a stop to all the torture. Though, suicide never ends the pain, it always passes it on to someone else, it deeply disturbs everyone who gets to know about it, and saddens them too, to know they couldn’t be of any help, they wish they could’ve shared the pain and understood the silence.
The number of suicide cases are increasing by the day, and at the moment, during a global pandemic, the people susceptible to succumb to this fancy are more than ever. People are stuck within the confines of four walls, with limited activities and restricted social interactions leading to a monotonous and vicious cycle. A lot of people are starting to encounter things such as anxiety and depression, due to the very fact that they do not know whom to approach and how speak their mind out without fear of judgement.
Whenever a person takes her own life, we are sure to know that it disturbs everyone who hears about it, especially people who were close to the deceased person. But many-a-times, it impacts a few in more profound ways. Here we speak about the “Werther Effect” also known famously as “Copycat Suicides”. This term was coined around the late 1700’s when Johanne Wolfgang published a book titled “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. In the book, the main character, Werther, finds himself in a love triangle and feels like the only way out of what he has got himself into is through taking his own life, and so he chooses to end his life. Though this book was a majorly successful, this led to many copycat suicides since readers felt like they truly connected with Werther and thought that ending their lives was the easiest thing to do so as to end their misery, many in the same way as outlined in Wolfgang’s book. There is also a myth that says “If we talk about suicide, we will give someone the idea to attempt suicide”, and the Werther effect backs this up. Now, due to the fear of copycat suicides, many people in the community choose not to speak on the subject, and in the process only temporarily supressing it in the minds of the vulnerable.
Talking of people in the community then brings us the “Papageno Effect”. This effect is named after a character in Mozart’s Opera, “The Magic Flute”, in which the character loses his love and plans to commit suicide. Though later, his attempt is prevented by three boys who explain to him that there are alternatives to dying. The reason of calling this effect so, is very much simple as: for individuals in crisis, the way that the media shows and reports suicides can have either, a positive or a negative impact on an individual’s decision.
Suicide is a public issue, and should be spoken about without any hesitation, but not thrown about. Research on the subject shows that things such as viral posts or media and news can have a positive impact on a person, and help prevent suicide. The death of a celebrity or a very prominent and powerful person, may have a very damaging impact on not only the peers, fans and followers, but also on the citizens of the country. Mental health and well-being are a very important thing to talk about now, more than ever, hence all of us, collectively can-do things that spread positivity and promote the Papageno Effect and brings down the Werther Effect.
New-age mediums like social media, should start normalising this very taboo topic by promoting platforms for people to seek help and be able to talk about things to break down the stigma. Media, instead of spreading pictures, videos, suicide letter quotations, going after the family of the deceased and adding sensationalistic headings in papers and magazines, should address suicide as a public health issue, not spread negativity by showing videos or pictures and most importantly not get after the family or peers of the deceased and give them the privacy they deserve.
Mental Health, right now is a very crucial topic and has to be normalised still. Things such as seeking a therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist should be normalised again, as they deal too, with illnesses and disorders and most importantly listen without judgement, and help pave a path for another. Empathy and compassion are just a few helpful things to further nurture within us, as we attempt to unmute ourselves, and also be there for someone who may need us, without even having to ask for assistance.