May 3, 1999

Senior Seminar Presentation (suicide)

What could cause a person to commit suicide though? There are many reasons that could cause a person to commit suicide. Some reasons are a sudden trauma or catastrophe, loss of a job, an amputation of a limb, becoming a paraplegic, death of a close family member or friend, or, on the flip side of losing a job or financial hardships, the sudden accumulation of wealth. Sometimes people can not deal with the sudden change in their status in society and do not wish to continue on any longer. Due to this lack of options on how this person one must act with this new wealth, a person may feel pressured. If suicide is committed it is generally called Fatalistic suicide. This is a lack of freedom and absence of choice. It is the inability to openly express how one feels which leads to a sense of fatalism.

In certain cultures, suicide is regard to differently. In the feudal Japanese society, suicide was called Seppuku. Seppuku was the culturally accepted way to commit suicide. It was generally done if one was disgraced in battle. It was also done to show devotion to one’s leader or superior. It was not only done to show devotion towards a superior but it was also done to show disagreement with a superior. In the caste system in India the art of Suttee was practiced. Suttee was where the wife of a nobleman would throw herself onto her deceased husband’s cremation pile. This was a culturally accepted way of suicide and any woman not willing to condone in self-immolation was "helped" onto the pile to be burned with her husband.

In psychology, there are 3 different types of insights developed from a psychological model on suicide. The first type was acute suicide. Acute suicide is where the grieving process is very short. This type of case may only last a few days or even shorter, like a few hours, unlike some other times where it may last weeks, months, years, etc. The second case was where the person contemplating suicide is generally ambivalent to the whole process. The plans for self destruction are generally accompanied by fantasies of intervention or rescue before suicide actually occurs. The third case is where they say most cases of suicide are dyadic. A dyadic suicide is where it involves both a victim and a significant other. There are also different types of suicide which people often refer to how someone left. One example is called suicide as an escape. It is also called "rational" suicide, this deals with a problem the person has. The second case is where it is called a psychotic suicide. This is associated with impaired logic or delusion. Schizophrenia is generally associated with this also but the person committing suicide has no real intentions of dying. The third type is called a "cry for help". This way generally wants to force a change. For the most part, death is not the goal here but instead the eradication of some problem is the final goal.

Listed below are why some people in their late-adulthood sometimes either contemplate suicide or will generally go through with the process.

1)isolation and loneliness

2)Boredom, depression, sense of uselessness

3)loss of purpose and meaning in life

4)Financial hardship

5)Multiple losses of loved ones

6)chronic illness

7)Alcohol and drug abuse

8)Desire to avoid being a "burden"

How easy is it to know if something is wrong with someone or if suicide may be imminent? Well, unfortunately, it’s not easy at all but there are warning signs that one could look for. Listed below are some of the ways that one might be able to tell if one is contemplating suicide:

1)Verbal direct-(I will shoot myself if you leave)

2)Verbal indirect-(A life without love is a life not worth living)

3)Behavioral direct-(chronically ill person hoarding drugs)

4)Behavioral indirect-(giving away possessions, change in eating and sleeping habits, withdrawals from friends, change in job or school performance, personality changes, use of drugs or alcohol)

Statistics

-30,000 people end their lives every year in the U.S. by suicide

-women try 3 times as much as men but men die 4 times more frequently because men are generally more violent.

-2/3 of men kill themselves with guns. 40% of women with guns

-whites have a twice the suicide rate of blacks and white males have a higher rate