Guilt and Suicides

Nothing is more wasteful than to see under utilization of existing resources especially for a country like India and when it comes to resources what better resources can be than the Humans.

Suicides are common and prevalent and most of us have known such cases from our life. Suicides mostly originate because of the heights of despondency and lack of belief in the improvement of the situation or guilt. A small amount of guilt is welcome as it works to check the innate maniac attitude of us. Beyond that any guilt is not welcome for whatever be its origin.

The more ambitious one it’s possible that in case of being uneventful or facing a failure in a particular case, one may take the extreme step. It's more common in societies where personal achievement is given more importance than in societies where social achievement is given more weightage. Suicides are common in cities and more so in individuals in isolation.

According to a view, suicide is the best possible remedy for the one who commit it but worse for the near ones as the always suffer from the pangs that he could have made a difference. Delhi Metro has recorded great no. of suicides and the impact of such events on the psychology of fellow travellers, drivers and people at large have yet to be explored completely.

What is disturbing about suicides is the sheer diversity of reasons for which people commit one- it may be the isolation for security forces from their near and dear ones, on the other hand it may be a bad investment for some, it may be a crop failure and systematic alienation from the existing organization or the delayed justice and subsequent desperation for 'solution' from the pending problems, in another case it may be a way of 'saving of resources' for others in case of terminally ill patients or the lack of importance/ respect in case of those who are no more at the center of affairs-old age individuals, another case may be of those, who have been part of a system for so long, that even an improvement in the condition would be too uncomfortable for them, expectation from peers are cause de importance in case of students while the sheer helplessness in case of Dalit’s and loss of social prestige or self-respect in case of rape victims, lack of opportunity or the hopelessness may be another alienating point. Bad parenting or no vent for the pressure is the raison- d-etre for adolescents.

I don't know what goes inside the head of such individuals, but what they definitely forget is there importance in a system like pixels. However small they are, they will be missed definitely once they are gone- you may or may not notice them when they are there. Your contribution to economy- money you create, emotional- support to family and friends, enterprising- new initiatives which you can take and can bring change- opportunity to do something new! 

Another reason may be the lack worthy of the goal/purpose which the Psychotherapist Viktor Frankl talks about in his book- Men's Search for Purpose. A must read book-at least the part dealing with concentration camp, I must say.

Need for desperate measures

The point however which usually comes out in more than one case is that over a prolonged period, warnings are being ignored, responsible individuals are too involved to notice even the most obvious of symptoms and in the name of giving space they avoid all the responsibility.

If the desperation would be the only reason there is no doubt that many of the street roamers or those without any assets would have committed suicide long ago but it simply don’t happens.

If people without  formal education, support and namely without any asset of worth- don't lose hope and live today to fight another day, the recurring cases of suicides in resource-rich and talented people is an issue of serious importance.

Economics of such steps

One would be at great pain to find out the economic cost of suicide and the real Return on Investment on the human resource if things wouldn't have been that bad. I believe in economics and such desperate measures over the long period of time would have incurred huge financial implication on the society and an economic study would reveal many more sad truths about this unhappy fact. Such cost to nation itself would be humongous and I believe all the preventive steps possible should be taken to counter the same.

Indian Penal Code and its absurdity

India is a mix place- for different people it has different meanings. It is too good when it is implementing archaic laws and requires no mind application!

One of the such result is the failed suicides are illegal and are a Criminal Offence under Section 309 of IPC which is a punishable offence with an imprisonment of up to 1 year of fine as well.

Govt has initiated a review in the response of the PIL formed in Supreme Court in 2009 but things are still pending. However in its present role, it affects medical aid as doctors out of fear of prosecution hardly take initiatives in cases related with suicides and victims and their friends and families till no end.

Some ways

A national level helpline with dedicated team may be the first worthy step in such direction.

A series of positive efforts are required to reduce such an unfortunate outcome. Creating an atmosphere where individuals with not so lucky background and against many odds have registered success should be shared and celebrated.

Study of different types of suicides (Academic pressure, Credit or finance or self-respect) and causes and steps which can be taken to effectively mitigate the same.