Preventing a suicide
Last week, we received too many suicide death news in Delhi. There were 6 suicides and 300 attempted suicides because of the fear of the board exams. Three days later another girl committed suicide because of the same reason. Last year three students committed suicide because of not getting admission in the right college. On December 10,2001 one person by the name of Amit Punya killed himself because of not being good at maths. In the year 2000 or 2001, I remember reading in the Times of India that 2279 students killed themselves all over India because of the awesome board exams. Last year on the ezboard forum also I read somebody commenting that the stupid perception of everything hinging on one exam was causing so many suicides. Today in the speaking tree(spiritual column of the times of India), a collective Japanese suicide is mentioned because there is nobody to listen empathetically. I finally decided to write this.
I would like to share certain insights because I have read some articles to the effect that in the 21st century, depression could be the no1 killer disease because though science has made tremendous progress, the psychological and spiritual development of man has not kept abreast. My worst suffering was two decades ago but what I learnt is worth sharing.
Before going to details, I would like to state what to my mind is a typical suicide. Somewhere in the late eighties, I was going to train one person on computerized accounting. After giving him a briefing, I told him to report on time the next morning. When he did not turn up for more than an hour of commencement time, I rang up his residence and was shocked to hear that he had committed suicide. When I rushed to his residence with some office people, I still remember his father with tears rolling down his cheeks, Only yesterday he seemed totally all right. How can one gauge what he is thinking.? In the last 25 years, I must have read at least 10 suicides with more or less the same remark, How do you know what exactly he is thinking. That guy had an affair with some girl and lost her but the issue is that that happens to many of us but all of us do not react like that. If the person does not speak, how does one know how bad he feels about whatever may have happened.
There is no X-ray or thermometer here to know the degree of Negative thinking or sometimes even the fact that the person is thinking negatively. In technical lingo, there is no indicator. Many people have been raving about Sanjay Leela Bhansalis new film Black. Based on the life of Hellen Keller, its about how a girl who is blind, deaf and dumb comes to terms with life with the help of her teacher, the redoubtable Amitabh Bachchan. Mr Bachchan in one dialogue tells the girls parents So what if the girl is blind, deaf and dumb. She is not mentally retarded . Depression and mental problems are exactly the opposite So what if everything is all right on the surface. What if there is some mental disability or false perception which is invisible. That actually makes it more dangerous.
We will digress a little here. Mr Bachchans remark reminded me of something. One must also add talk about stigma related to mental problems. Some years ago I happened to go to a school of mentally retarded children not too far away from where I stay. A photo of Albert Einstein who was suffering from dyslexia but still rose to greatness here was hanging on the reception. The receptionist told me that they deliberately hung the Einstein photo to reassure parents that all was not lost. Einstein apart, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson, Winston Churchill and even Tom Cruise were said to one or the other mental l problem. Even USAs greatest president, Abraham Lincoln suffered two nervous breakdowns before he became what he became. Thats a pretty handsome crowd. What stigma?
I am doing this in public interest like the post on Vipasana Meditation earlier since human lives are involved. Since many people dont even know that depression is a sickness, one should be generally aware. This time I have not written long because of natural proclivity to write but the nature of the subject. Since this forum is not meant for all this, continuation is in dep.doc for those genuiely interested.
I wrote to times of week India a week ago, in which student suicides are covered specifically. I dont expect a stressed out board exam student to be reading all this but maybe somebody can help one indirectly. That is in the file student.doc
A word of caution. One should try to change the social ambience of the student before doing anything and always take help of medical practitioners. Feeling low and depressed is two different things. Depression is a sickness.
I am not a medical guy but sometimes sharing experience helps
Last week, we received too many suicide death news in Delhi. There were 6 suicides and 300 attempted suicides because of the fear of the board exams. Three days later another girl committed suicide because of the same reason. Last year three students committed suicide because of not getting admission in the right college. On December 10,2001 one person by the name of Amit Punya killed himself because of not being good at maths. In the year 2000 or 2001, I remember reading in the Times of India that 2279 students killed themselves all over India because of the awesome board exams. Last year on the ezboard forum also I read somebody commenting that the stupid perception of everything hinging on one exam was causing so many suicides. Today in the speaking tree(spiritual column of the times of India), a collective Japanese suicide is mentioned because there is nobody to listen empathetically. I finally decided to write this.
I would like to share certain insights because I have read some articles to the effect that in the 21st century, depression could be the no1 killer disease because though science has made tremendous progress, the psychological and spiritual development of man has not kept abreast. My worst suffering was two decades ago but what I learnt is worth sharing.
Before going to details, I would like to state what to my mind is a typical suicide. Somewhere in the late eighties, I was going to train one person on computerized accounting. After giving him a briefing, I told him to report on time the next morning. When he did not turn up for more than an hour of commencement time, I rang up his residence and was shocked to hear that he had committed suicide. When I rushed to his residence with some office people, I still remember his father with tears rolling down his cheeks, Only yesterday he seemed totally all right. How can one gauge what he is thinking.? In the last 25 years, I must have read at least 10 suicides with more or less the same remark, How do you know what exactly he is thinking. That guy had an affair with some girl and lost her but the issue is that that happens to many of us but all of us do not react like that. If the person does not speak, how does one know how bad he feels about whatever may have happened.
There is no X-ray or thermometer here to know the degree of Negative thinking or sometimes even the fact that the person is thinking negatively. In technical lingo, there is no indicator. Many people have been raving about Sanjay Leela Bhansalis new film Black. Based on the life of Hellen Keller, its about how a girl who is blind, deaf and dumb comes to terms with life with the help of her teacher, the redoubtable Amitabh Bachchan. Mr Bachchan in one dialogue tells the girls parents So what if the girl is blind, deaf and dumb. She is not mentally retarded . Depression and mental problems are exactly the opposite So what if everything is all right on the surface. What if there is some mental disability or false perception which is invisible. That actually makes it more dangerous.
We will digress a little here. Mr Bachchans remark reminded me of something. One must also add talk about stigma related to mental problems. Some years ago I happened to go to a school of mentally retarded children not too far away from where I stay. A photo of Albert Einstein who was suffering from dyslexia but still rose to greatness here was hanging on the reception. The receptionist told me that they deliberately hung the Einstein photo to reassure parents that all was not lost. Einstein apart, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson, Winston Churchill and even Tom Cruise were said to one or the other mental l problem. Even USAs greatest president, Abraham Lincoln suffered two nervous breakdowns before he became what he became. Thats a pretty handsome crowd. What stigma?
I am doing this in public interest like the post on Vipasana Meditation earlier since human lives are involved. Since many people dont even know that depression is a sickness, one should be generally aware. This time I have not written long because of natural proclivity to write but the nature of the subject. Since this forum is not meant for all this, continuation is in dep.doc for those genuiely interested.
I wrote to times of week India a week ago, in which student suicides are covered specifically. I dont expect a stressed out board exam student to be reading all this but maybe somebody can help one indirectly. That is in the file student.doc
A word of caution. One should try to change the social ambience of the student before doing anything and always take help of medical practitioners. Feeling low and depressed is two different things. Depression is a sickness.
I am not a medical guy but sometimes sharing experience helps
Last edited: