SUICIDE A SILENT MENACE AND NEED FOR PROACTIVE MEASURES – Part 2
DEFINITIONS TERMS
7. Some words would be defined or clarified to give an insight into the subject matter.
a. Suicide.
(1) According to the Cambridge Dictionary, suicide is the act of killing one self intentionally. Good as this definition is, it failed to mention whether the act of killing oneself was committed directly or indirectly by the person. This is because some victims commit suicide as a sacrifice for others and such deaths could be said to be indirect acts.
(2) Emile Durkheim defined suicide as the death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result. Durkheim mentioned that the act could be committed directly or indirectly by the victim but failed to mention the age category nor indicate the alarming nature of suicide incidents.
(3) This paper would define suicide by combining the 2 definitions for use as a working definition. Thus, suicide is defined as the act of intentionally killing oneself irrespective of age by using direct or indirect means. This definition essentially captured intentional killing of oneself and the method to be used regardless of age bracket. The prevalence of younger persons committing suicide is alarming especially now that it has been established that the future and wellbeing of any nation or organization depends on the younger generation.
b. Silent. Silent is defined as an act of not making noise or sound, being completely quiet nor saying anything. When silence pervades a situation, it could be positive for good or negative for worse things. The silence experienced in the face of young Nigerians committing suicide without measures to curb it is very much disturbing.
c. Need for Proactive Measures. The Need for proactive measures is conceptualize by this writer as the necessity to make strategic plan of actions against the threat posed by increasing suicide incidents.
8. The spate of suicide attempts and incidents worldwide as well as locally is becoming alarming. Painfully, the age bracket where it is most pronounced is among teenagers and young adults. Quite a number of people who have conceived the idea to commit suicide but eventually received some forms of counseling have expressed gratitude for the counsels. Interestingly some reasons for committing suicide and attempts to commit same arise from traumas caused by love related issues, rape incidents, rejection, marital and family problems. Some are due to addictions that put severe pressure on the victims. Others are traumatic disorders particularly among military personnel in combat operations. Emotional and physical abuses also made some victims feel that life was no longer worth living.
9. According to Timothy J Legg, about 1.4 million Americans thought about committing suicide in 2019. Although some of these people received counsels and rescinded their decisions, nevertheless, about 47,000 still committed the act. This is 3 percent of the total who had conceived the idea of killing themselves. The nexus between the menace of suicide and the need for proactive action indicates that the more people receive counsel on issues pertaining to life, the less would be the probability of suicide incidents. It therefore behooves on government institutions to strengthen existing counseling departments. For instance, the Nigerian Navy practices what is called the Divisional Systems which offers platform for personnel to seek counsel on issues of several particulars.
THEORETICAL MODEL
- The application of a concept or theory will be adopted to drive in the objectives of this paper. The one selected amongst others is the concept of attention. Olfa Ben Azouz, described attention as the ability to actively process specific information in the environment while tuning out other details. The information could be from observations in the behaviour of a family member or friend, acquaintance, colleague or any familiar person. Attention plays important role in learning and understanding. It is also a basic component of biological reflexes present at birth which helps determine events to be attended to, for survival. For instance, babies attend to environmental stimuli such as loud noises. A touch against the cheek of a baby triggers a reflex, causing the infant to turn head towards the touch to receive nourishment. These orienting reflexes continue to benefit an individual throughout life.
- There are 5 types of attention that determine responses to situations. These include limited attention, sustained, alternating, selective or focused attention. Focused attention involves being suddenly drawn to specifics such as a loud noise, a flash of light or unexpected behavioural change which requires prompt attention or quick action. Teacher Adeola demonstrated this in the next paragraph.
- Adetola is a secondary school teacher. One of her students, Yusuf, began the school year as a quiet, subdued and passive student. He did his work, but hardly participated in class or interacted with the other students. Adeola observed that Yusuf had undergone what, seems like a drastic change in personality: He could barely stay on his seat, was stubborn and exhibited obvious loss of interest in his school works. The teacher became concerned in the gradual change in Yusuf’s behaviour. She was alarmed and took special interest to specifically observe him more closely. She further involved some of his other teachers. It was discovered that these teachers also noticed similar attitudinal change, along with a decline in the quality of his academics works. Adetola told Yusuf that she was worried about him and that she thought he might benefit from talking to someone. She informed the school counsellor who prepared a counselling session with Yusuf to which he kept. Thereafter, Yusuf’s attitude changed for good.
- Adebola noticed a student with a problem and took effective action. Did she prevent a suicide? It was a possibility but for her focused attention and timely response. Nsebong a 15-year-old house maid at Diamond Hill Calabar was not as lucky as Yusuf. Her mistress was not attentive to the indicators leading to Nseobong’s changing attitude until the girl committed suicide by hanging. It was too late when her madam expressed regret for neglecting to act on her recent observations in the girl’s gradual decline and loss of interest in house chores. If this madam had paid attention and took effective action, she probably would have saved a life.
To be continued…
