Stigma: A major barrier to Suicide Prevention

Yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day. And I feel weird to know that an online friend of mine felt so dejected and hopeless that he took his own life. He was depressed and could not see any point in continuing. He posted many times about his abusive father, and this week, after being physically assaulted, called police on him. However, that was not fruitful either. I do not know what transpired between the police and him. All I know is that he wasn't helped when he needed.

I never met him in real, only interacted online. According to him, his therapist had not called him for weeks. So, he mostly relied on friends. For, expecting support from his family was useless. It is not only sad, but cruel on so many levels.

May he rest in peace now. Away from the cycle of abuse, helplessness and dejection. Away from doctors like Shazia Nawaz, who cannot stop abusing someone with mental health problems. I wonder what kind of a doctor would say this on the Facebook wall of a person, who died only a few hours ago?

How many doctors are out there who tell their patients they are just pretending? And how many doctors tell their patients that they need to live for 'abusive parents'. I quote Dr Shazia Nawaz here: "World does not remember USELESS DEPRESSED people." World can do well without doctors like you Shazia Nawaz, I hope her license gets canceled.

If you thought that was moronic, please see our enlightened doctor comparing suicide with murder. Basically as per the 'doctor' a person who kills someone else and a person who kills 'self' is the same.

There are many reasons people with suicide ideation do not get timely help. Including doctors like Shazia Nawaz and others who say shit like 'attention seeker', 'weak', 'drama queen', etc. Criminalization of suicide is not much help either.

International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and WHO cosponsored World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. The theme was “Stigma: A Major Barrier for Suicide Prevention.” Nearly a million people die of suicides a year. The figures do not include the number of 'attempts' people make to commit suicide.

I feel awful and weird. He posted his picture with a rope, before he hung himself. Perhaps the final cry of a helpless being, stuck in limbo.


Note: The name has not been mentioned, so people like Shazia do not abuse him further.

Best religion without a consolidated following

A very sorry excuse given by Muslims for the atrocities they commit, in defense of their religion which allows them to commit such crimes in the first place, is what a fellow said after being unable to respond to an argument any further, “Coz u link acts of followers and human beings as what the religion dictates.”

He of course meant to say that what certain individuals belonging to a certain sect do, is not the true portrayal of Islam. It is an interesting u-turn taken by the followers of any philosophy, be it Christians, Muslims or whoever. It is a sort of feigned or at times real detachment from a certain segment of people, who are actually using a part of religion that should probably be left out to adapt with current times or a situation or vice versa.

Take for example Jihad - which these days entails suicide bombings. Now committing suicide is a crime, but getting killed in a holy war is glorious, and a person is titled a Shaheed. A Shaheed enters Heaven and gets to play with 72 virgins. Since times have changed and so has warfare changed, weapons are different, 1,400 years ago it was about swords and shields and now it is about guns and bombs. So, getting killed in a holy war remains glorious, only the weaponry is different.

People would argue, (of course the ones who are in favour of religions) that Islam does not sanction suicide, but they do not mention the Shaheed side of the things. If one is killed in a holy war, no matter how perceived it is, the fact of the matter remains, one is not committing a suicide, but giving ones life for a righteous cause. If Islam had not been so devious and conniving, and of course did not use bribes (like the 72 virgins), people would not have been willing to blow themselves up every day.

So saying that it is only the followers who choose to act this way and the religion had nothing to do with it, does not make sense. It is like someone said we are all the time picking and choosing between the right kinds of Islam followers. Who exactly is the right kind anyway? Who are the ones who actually represent Islam? The Shia, Sunni, Ahle Hadith, Barailvi? If there are none, it means the claims made by Muslims regarding Islam being best and forever were false, after all how is it possible that the best religion to be there ever, does not have even a single consolidated following?