THE recent news of suicide cases in Penang has seen an alarming and concerning rise, prompting immediate measures among relevant parties to prevent it from happening again and again.
Buletin Mutiara interviewed a couple of experts today, and one of them, Ashnina Anandan, a lecturer and a health psychologist, said the rise in suicide cases lately has paved a way for a phenomenon, called suicide contagion.
“As we all know, suicide contagion is the exposure of suicide of one or more increases the risk of suicidal behaviour in others.
“We have seen back-to-back cases at the Penang Bridge lately.
“Penang bridge is viewed as a successful spot, as there have been successful suicidal cases in the past weeks or months.
“Media reporting and social media plays a vital role in these situations. With viral videos and pictures of successful suicides being circled around, it provides ideas of possible ways of suicide amongst those whom have suicidal ideations.
“People need to be aware of their postings, especially if it is about suicide cases, as it is something really sensitive and deserves to be treated with due diligence.
“Also, ethical reporting of suicide by the media can play an active role in changing perceptions and curb this issue from happening, while creating more awareness-based messages for the people,” Ashnina said in a phone interview today.
Relatively, she also said there are many factors that actually contribute to this phenomenon, aside from financial, family and work issues.
“One way of minimising the risk is by having open communication in the family. Children needs to be encouraged to speak and discuss about their mental health issues with their parents and to always be given the option of a “safety net” to fall back when they face difficult times. Children need to be thought to build resilience from young, whether beginning from their homes or even in school curriculums.
“There is a stigma in a lot of things we do in our country, particularly in families that have a long history of practising certain cultures that often serve as factors leading to mishaps, unprecedented events and so on.
“Families have got to practise an open communication with one another to prevent unpleasant things from happening.
“Life skills such as conflict resolution, decision making and problem solving should be taught early on in life. They help in building resilience.
“Society needs to understand that life is not black or white, society today highlights the importance of success over failure. When people experience failure and unable to cope with the pressure is when helplessness and hopelessness occurs, leading towards suicidal ideation,” Ashnina said.
Meanwhile, full-time counsellor Kelly-Ann Baptist, 48, concurred with Ashnina’s views.
She particularly stressed that the media must deliver news that are ethical and at the end of the day, serve not only as a form of news but play a role in shaping people’s mindset on how catastrophic committing suicide is.
“All people need is to talk to somebody and an outlet to go to when they experience difficult moments.
“We must neutralise the stigma where it is okay to not be okay sometimes,” Kelly said.
Story and pix by Kevin Vimal