WHAT IS SUICIDE?

• Suicide is a form of deviance. It is so because most people do not do it because of religious and cultural taboos. The study of suicide also contains in a nutshell the essence of sociological theories and methods.

DURKHEIM’S CONCEPT ON SUICIDE

• Durkheim established that:• Suicide rates are higher in men than women.• Suicide rates are higher for singles than

married. • Suicide rates are higher for people without

children than people with children. • Suicide rates are higher among Protestants

than Catholics and Jews. • Suicide rates are higher among soldiers than

civilians. • Suicide rates are higher in times of peace than

in times of war.• Suicide rates are higher in Scandinavian

countries. • Higher the education level, the more likely it

was that an individual would commit suicide, however Durkheim established that there is more correlation between an individual's religion and suicide rate than an individual's education level; Jewish people were generally highly educated but had a low suicide rate.

TYPES OF SUICIDES

Types of suicides by Durkheim:

• Egoistic Suicide• Altruistic Suicide• Anomic Suicide• Fatalistic Suicide

REASONS OF SUICIDE IN PAKISTAN

• Poverty and Inflation• Unemployment• Lack of education• Frustration• Depression• Uncertainty• Lack of parental support.• Loosening of cultural

norms.

SUICIDE STATISTICS IN PAKISTAN

• 0.43/100,000 in Peshawar, 2.86/100,000 for Rawalpindi, Karachi, 2.1/100,000, Lahore, 1.08/100,000, Faisalabad, 1.12/100,000 and Larkana,

2.6/100,000.• Most suicides occur in young

people. • Suicide rates are higher in

men than women.

WAYS ADOPTED FOR SUICIDE IN PAKISTAN

• Suicide bombings• Poisoning• Hanging• Firearms• Drowning• Self-Immolation• Jumping• Use of medicines (in

minority).• Ingestion of insecticides.

EFFECTS OF SUICIDE

• Conflicting emotions• Extreme depression• Insomnia• Lowered self esteem• Undeserving guilt and

despair• Resentment• Confusion• Suicide surviviors may

retry suicide.

WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT SUICIDES IN PAKISTAN?

ROLE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Suicides increase by:• Specific ways of

reporting and portrayal of suicides.

• Internet allowing the forging of communities interested in suicide.

• Glamorizing suicide in ways which incites suicidal behavior.

ROLE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Suicide can decrease by:• Educating people• Avoid glorifying suicide.• Include information on

where to go for help.• Don’t report descriptions

of suicide methods.• Avoid repetition and the

word “suicide” in news.• Avoid dramatic visuals.• Take particular care when

reporting celebrity suicides.

CONTROLLING SUICIDE IN PAKISTAN

• Mental health professionals and government should cooperate.

• Suicide prevention programs should be integrated.

• Training emergency room personnel.

• Review the law regarding suicide in Pakistan.

• Suicide prevention telephone hotlines.

• Increase spending on mental health.

CONTROLLING SUICIDE IN PAKISTAN

• Initiating school based interventions.• Suicide prevention interventions should be pre-

emptive rather than reactive.• Implementing strategies that restrict the act to

lethal ways of suicide.• Media can educate public about suicide

prevention.• Suicide stories can inform readers about

symptoms, warnings and treatments for suicide.

"Suicide may also be regarded as an experiment -- a question which man puts to Nature, trying to force her to answer. The question is this: What change will death produce in a man's existence and in his insight into the nature of things? It is a clumsy experiment to make; for it involves the destruction of the very consciousness which puts the question and awaits the answer." Arthur Schopenhauer