TEACHERS are supposed to be pillars of education but some of them were making headlines recently for committing suicide. There was Emylou Malate, a 21-year-old grade-school teacher of Bagacay West Primary School in La Paz, Leyte. She reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself.
Another one was Jay Rubina, a public-school teacher, who also committed suicide but gave some hint a few weeks before his death.
“We don’t have a good data on suicide in the Philippines but in 2012, there were 2,550 recorded suicides,” Undersecretary Herminigildo Valle of the Department of Health was quoted as saying in one of the daily newspapers in the country last June.
If that’s frightening, the statistics worldwide is even more scary. Every 40 seconds, someone dies by suicide, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO).
“Every year, close to 800,000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide,” the United Nations health agency reported. “Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries, and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.”
Most of these suicides occur in industrialized countries like the United States and Japan, as these are oftentimes reported in the media. Suicides in developing countries are low because they are not always reported.
“Suicide does not just occur in high-income countries, but is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world,” the WHO pointed out. “In fact, over 79 percent of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2016.”
An earlier WHO report said the Philippines has suicide rates (per 100,000) of 2.5 for men and 1.7 for women. This fact may be appalling for Filipinos, but the numbers are way too small compared to those in Western countries.
In fact, the Philippines has one of the world’s lowest suicide rates. The 2000 Philippine Health Statistics from the health department showed only 1.8 per 100,000 people to have inflicted harm on themselves. In comparison, European countries had the highest figures, which ranged from 30 to 42 per 100,000.
According to the WHO, approximately 32 percent of the world’s suicides occur in the Western Pacific region, of which the Philippines is a part of. “While acknowledged as an important and neglected health issue, it remains a low priority in most Western Pacific countries due to competing health problems, stigma and poor understanding of the condition,” wrote Maria Theresa Redaniel, May Antonnette Lebanan-Dalida and David Gunnell, authors of Suicide in the Philippines: Time Trend Analysis (1974-2005) and Literature Review.
Dr. Dinah Nadera, a psychologist at the University of the Philippines Open University, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that suicides happened between 8:01 in the morning and noon on weekdays, “when other people were not around in their homes.” The information was based from studies made on 300 cases from hospitals and police reports in 2008 and 2009.
Least suicides occurred between 12:01 and 4 a.m., the studies found.
All in all, there may be more Filipinos who committed suicide than what was being recorded. “Certainly, the actual rate in the Philippines is probably higher, with many doctors agreeing not to report deaths as suicides because of the stigma. But even if we could get the true figure, it would probably still be relatively low,” Dr. Michael Tan wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Suicide, the process of purposely ending one’s own life, has always been viewed negatively in most culture. But not in Asia, where 60 percent of all the suicide deaths in the world are reported from. In fact, two of the countries with relatively huge suicide rates are Japan and South Korea, which have a very high level of competition that starts right from childhood.
“Although some attempted or completed suicides come as a shock even to family and friends, clear warnings are given in most cases,” points out The Merck Manual of Medical Information. “Any suicide threat or suicide attempt is a plea for help and must be taken seriously. If the threat or attempt is ignored, a life may be lost.”
Suicides come in various forms. “It is estimated that around 20 percent of global suicides are due to pesticide self-poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries,” the WHO said. “Other common methods of suicide are hanging and firearms.”
In the Philippines, a study showed that the methods of committing suicide included shooting oneself, 40 percent; hanging, 30 percent; poisoning, 16.7 percent; and jumping from high places, 13.3 percent. In 73 percent of the reported cases, suicide was committed in their own homes.
Sen. Joel Villanueva pointed out during a Senate hearing last year that 46 percent of the total suicide cases recorded since 2010 were from the youth. Filipino children as young as 10 years old resort to suicide because of depression, he said.
Suicide is generally equated with mental health. “While the link between suicide and mental disorders [in particular, depression and alcohol use disorders] is well established in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship breakup or chronic pain and illness,” the WHO said.
In addition, experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, or loss and a sense of isolation are strongly associated with suicidal behavior, it added.
Studies have also shown that suicide rates are also high among the vulnerable groups who experience discrimination, such as refugees and migrants; indigenous peoples; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex persons; and prisoners.
“By far the strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt,” the WHO affirmed.
But deaths could be avoided if only the person who wants to end his or her life could have someone to lean on. “When a person is positive to having suicide thoughts and killing himself or herself, people around should take action by never leaving someone suicidal on their own and removing the means of suicide available to the person if it is safe to do so,” the WHO said.
“It’s important to realize that suicide is preventable,” the UN health agency said. “And that having access to the means of suicide is both an important risk factor and determinant of suicide.”
In a press statement, the WHO talked about some protective factors, which include high self-esteem and social “connectedness,” especially with family and friends, having social support, being in a stable relationship, and religious or spiritual commitment.
The WHO believes that with proper support, a suicidal person can be saved. In the Philippines there are support group institutions that one can turn to with issues on love, relationships, gender issue (including gender confusion), family matters, and bullying in the workplace, school and social media.
“Early identification and appropriate treatment of mental disorders is an important preventive strategy,” the WHO said.
There is also evidence that educating primary health-care personnel in the identification and treatment of people with mood disorders may result in a reduction of suicides among those at risk.
Media—print, television, radio and social—have a significant role to play, too. “Evidence also suggests that media reporting can encourage imitation suicides and we would urge that the media show sensitivity in their reporting on these tragic and frequently avoidable deaths,” the WHO pleaded.
“The media can also play a major role in reducing stigma and discrimination associated with suicidal behaviors and mental disorders,” the UN agency concluded.
Image credits: freepik.com | designed by dashu83, pixabay.com