It's time we start taking the Mental-Wealth of human beings seriously and with urgency. There is a moral case as well as there is an economic case.
Most of us experience sadness, stress, anxiety, depression in our life multiple times and we do cope with those instances. However, there are cases when we get into severe depression and some of us do take extreme steps and die by suicide. There are no good or bad reasons to be anxious. It's just human. For some of us, anxieties lead to stress. If we suppress the stress then that may lead to depression.
Nearly 1 million people commit suicide every year according to WHO. In other words, we witness one suicide in every 40 seconds. Mental ill-health costs as much as 4% of GDP in lost productivity, disability benefits and health-care bills, according to the OECD, a think-tank. Many illnesses afflict the old disproportionately, but mental illness tends to strike the young, undermining productivity. A few years ago, the World Economic Forum estimated that in the two decades to 2030 the cumulative cost of mental illness could be $16 trillion.
Suicide is a serious public health issue in India. However, it is preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions. The suicide mortality rate per 100 000 population in 2016 was 16.5, while the global average was 10.5 per 100 000. The most vulnerable are the 15–29-year old’s, the elderly, and persons with special needs. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 decriminalizes suicide, assuring adequate medical relief to those attempting it. This is an important development ensuring dignity and a humane perspective to the issue.
While the link between suicide and mental disorders (in particular, depression and alcohol use disorders) is well established, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis. Risk factors include experience of loss, loneliness, discrimination, a relationship break-up, financial problems, chronic pain and illness, violence, abuse, and conflict or other humanitarian emergencies. The strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt. The enormity of the challenge is going to increase by the day. Feeling sad and blaming ourselves have reached a crescendo. Low self-esteem, low self-confidence, not valuing self- all these contribute to acquiring low self-respect. But for most people those are abstract considerations. What they experience each day are moods—the sense of being anxious and sad; or if they are lucky, cheerful and optimistic. The unmet medical need is huge. According to the World Health Organization, 280m people globally suffer from serious depression, of whom about 30 per cent do not respond well to existing treatments: psychotherapy, antidepressant drugs or electroconvulsive therapy. However, interventions are possible.
The most influential psychology paper of 20th century written by Philip Brickman makes an earnest attempt to break down all of our helping and help-seeking behaviors into four categories: Those who think they’re responsible for both their problems and their solutions to those problems; those who think they’re responsible for neither; those who think they’re responsible for the solution to a problem but not the problem itself; and those who think they’re responsible for the problem but not the solution. Fourth one is the most worrying of all and we do not know how to identify the individuals who have this trait. We have few meaningful options when it comes to stopping someone who is determined to kill himself or herself. There are no refined algorithms for it. There is no scientific method, to date, to determine if they see their successes and failures as determined primarily by internal forces, such as effort and choice, or by external forces, such as luck and fate?
But are we really responsible for all our problems? At least 4 basic facts are not in our control. We are not responsible for our gender at the time of birth. We are not responsible for our name at the time of birth. We are not responsible for our surname at the time of birth. We are not responsible for our place of birth. All of these matter in shaping our life for good or bad. So, most of the time we are not responsible for creating the problem. There are factors beyond our control. There are cultural barriers, gender barriers, social barriers, economic barriers, language barriers to name a few. So, when we are not responsible for our problems in most cases, why should we blame ourselves?
We must intervene if and when our near and dear ones are in need of help. It's time to educate ourselves. We are here in this world for a purpose. If we appreciate and enjoy our purpose of being here then we can do the same for everyone else. Encourage communication if you find anyone in your surroundings who is anxious. Listen to what they have to say. We can save lives only by listening. If you think it's beyond you then ask the person to seek professional help. Do not stop just stop there, though; make sure that he/she is taking professional help. Each life is precious. We must do everything we can to protect it. Our collective effort may create a better world.
References-
1. https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-so-many-indian-housewives-killing-themselves/a-60196154
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-59634393
6. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day
7. https://www.who.int/news/item/09-09-2019-suicide-one-person-dies-every-40-seconds
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