It was long ago ... When i was studying in medical college first year one day all of us went to the house of our classmate . It was not a pleasant visit for her sister who was in the late teens had committed suicide . The reason ...... though everyone speculated ... the actual reason we will never know because that is generally known only to the person who commits the act . This visit was all the more painful because her sister used to visit our college functions and was popular as much as her sister amongst my classmates .
Sometime back i heard one person say that she was angry at everyone . Fine , occassionally everyone may get angry at everyone . Then she told " I will finish you " . Hmm .. Thanks to influence of action movies this statement is also possible . The next statement shocked all " I want to kill myself " . Hey .. i am not talking about a 20 or 60 year old adult . This statement came from a child .
Suicide is a taboo topic and paradoxically we dont know too much about it . But what is known (please search wikipedia /google if you are interested ) is that Nobody is immune and this is most important : No age is immune to it . Though rare even children do commit suicide . And it is not always an "impulsive act " like the general public including most parents think . Just like teen suicide which claimed my classmates younger sister often there are underlying causes for this . It is not often the " Exam failure " or "love failure " or "financial crisis " which makes people commit suicide . It is not always but often due to underlying illnesses like clinical depression . (hope the reader knows what it is : if not please wikipedia /google ) . And though we dont like to believe it even children get "clinically depressed " . And often but not always people including children give warning signs like the statement given by the child in the above example .
Now dont get all paranoid on all this but be aware especially if you are a parent that teen suicide is a major problem in many countries (dont believe me : search wikipedia and internet ) and if you beleive your child is 100 percent protected from this please be knowledgeable that such a thing also exists .
Why i am saying all this is not because i want to discuss a "taboo" topic (ignorance and taboo go hand in hand ) . But because though 100 percent not preventable it is in our best interests these days to be aware that
1. Suicide is a rare but real problem in teens and even in children these days
2. Being a close confidante of teens and children is one preventive measure but that is not everything
3 . most importantly when someone says even casually about suicidal ideas it is better that they be professionally evaluated so that it can be prevented to a large extent
We take extra care to protect our kids and teens from physical illnesses . It is high time we take a small effort in acknowledging the other risks including suicide .
PS : On a personal note when i was a child i never knew that we could die by our own hand . But these days maybe because children watch more tv or they are more aware of their environment like many things this awareness also has reached them . I respect and love the kids of today for they are intelligent , loving , transparent but still vulnerable ..So its high time this taboo is broken with increased knowledge and awareness of this condition .
Sometime back i heard one person say that she was angry at everyone . Fine , occassionally everyone may get angry at everyone . Then she told " I will finish you " . Hmm .. Thanks to influence of action movies this statement is also possible . The next statement shocked all " I want to kill myself " . Hey .. i am not talking about a 20 or 60 year old adult . This statement came from a child .
Suicide is a taboo topic and paradoxically we dont know too much about it . But what is known (please search wikipedia /google if you are interested ) is that Nobody is immune and this is most important : No age is immune to it . Though rare even children do commit suicide . And it is not always an "impulsive act " like the general public including most parents think . Just like teen suicide which claimed my classmates younger sister often there are underlying causes for this . It is not often the " Exam failure " or "love failure " or "financial crisis " which makes people commit suicide . It is not always but often due to underlying illnesses like clinical depression . (hope the reader knows what it is : if not please wikipedia /google ) . And though we dont like to believe it even children get "clinically depressed " . And often but not always people including children give warning signs like the statement given by the child in the above example .
Now dont get all paranoid on all this but be aware especially if you are a parent that teen suicide is a major problem in many countries (dont believe me : search wikipedia and internet ) and if you beleive your child is 100 percent protected from this please be knowledgeable that such a thing also exists .
Why i am saying all this is not because i want to discuss a "taboo" topic (ignorance and taboo go hand in hand ) . But because though 100 percent not preventable it is in our best interests these days to be aware that
1. Suicide is a rare but real problem in teens and even in children these days
2. Being a close confidante of teens and children is one preventive measure but that is not everything
3 . most importantly when someone says even casually about suicidal ideas it is better that they be professionally evaluated so that it can be prevented to a large extent
We take extra care to protect our kids and teens from physical illnesses . It is high time we take a small effort in acknowledging the other risks including suicide .
PS : On a personal note when i was a child i never knew that we could die by our own hand . But these days maybe because children watch more tv or they are more aware of their environment like many things this awareness also has reached them . I respect and love the kids of today for they are intelligent , loving , transparent but still vulnerable ..So its high time this taboo is broken with increased knowledge and awareness of this condition .
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