Akib Hassan

It is sad and sickening that by the time you finish reading this article, probably five people will have taken their own lives. That’s right, each 40 seconds, one suicide is counted around the world. It might seem unrealistic, but here’s the statistics:
Over 800,000 people commit suicide each year across the world. And about 2 percent of them are Bangladeshis, according to a 2014 WHO report, ‘Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative’.
The rate of suicide has increased by 60 percent over the past 45 years, making 128 people in every 100,000 vulnerable. And it keeps on increasing.
Globally, suicide rates are highest among people aged 70 and over. In some countries, however, the highest rates are found among the young. Notably, suicide is the second leading cause of deaths among 15 to 29 year-olds globally.
In Bangladesh, about 28 people kill themselves each day, and most of them are young females, aged between 15 and 29 years.
But why is it so? Has life become cheaper or is something missing? As researchers work hard to find the causes of suicides, a six-year-old girl in Florida walks in front of a moving train with a note in her hand: “Want to be with Mama”.
People do not kill themselves out of pain, but more likely because they have no hope to live. Or, perhaps, they don’t have the courage to face the truth.
As human civilization catapults into an era of modernization, there increases the sufferings of the mind. The biggest reason behind suicides is depression. It maybe emotional pain or a sense of burden that makes people desperately think about giving their lives away.
We have recently seen a child take his own life just for getting less than GPA 5 in the HSC exams, without giving a thought to better days waiting ahead of him.
Sometimes in despair, when people cry out for help and the only answer they get is silence, death seems the only way left. But what they don’t understand is suicide does not end the chance of life getting worse, it simply eliminates the possibility of it getting any better.
There is more to it, the wounds suicide leave in the life of those left behind are much deeper and far worse. And with a failed attempt of suicide _ you’ll keep dying with each beat of your heart, in the eyes of society and within yourself.
Suicide is not only morally wrong, it is deemed a sin in most religions and even a criminal offence in many countries around the world.
Even the best among us have suffered failure a number of times, but what made them special is that they never give up.
We all mess up once in a while, make mistakes and feel down. But as Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said: “The strongest of you is not he who knows to defeat his enemies with weapon, but the one who knows to defeat his sufferings with patience.”
And with a belief in human resilience, the world observes ‘World Suicide Prevention Day’ today (Sept 10), with the theme, ‘Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives’.
An initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organisation, the day is about standing up to make a positive impact on our mental health and wellbeing.
It is about creating awareness around us. It is about spreading the message: “When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on so far.”