Report the suicides pls

Recently I met a freelance writer and we talked about the choice of news to inlcude in the limited space of any newspaper.

We both agree, that different papers takes different stands on various issues, some leftists, some rightist, some commercial, some non commercial.

However, there's one thing we cannot agree on.

Reports on suicide.

His view is, it should be kept to a minimum, or not reporting at all. Because the reports may trigger more people to follow suit, and thus resulting in more suicide cases.

I think for any responsible country, there should be at least one newspaper that reports on the total number of suicide cases in a year, and if publishing spacce allows, publish more in depth report on suicides.

Committing suicide takes a lot of courage...and planning.

Courage. If you read my post on death, every human has an instinct to "want to live".
For any depressed person, there will also be a strong hesitation when you are about to take the step off the 25th storey window, dive towards a speeding car, or swallow that bottle of sleeping pills.

So if a person is depressed enough living in a society to take the final move to end his life, one less reporting of suicide will not stop anything. I don't think seeing a suicide report will give anyone who is not ready, a sudden boost of courage to end his life.

If someone is already ready, seeing a successful suicide report will only shorten his planning process. Because he knows which is proven to be the fastest and probably the least painful ways to commit suicide.

Let me repeat, committing suicide takes a lot of courage...and planning, therefore, seeing suicide reports in the newspaper is not going to "encourage" more people to kill himself. When you are looking down from 25th storey, when you see the dashing car, when you hold the bottle of sleeping pills, INSTINCT is a power so great it will stop any "unprepared" suicide committers.

And if someone is a mentally prepared suicide committer, he will have the ability to research and plan the least painful and high success rate way to end his life. See a successful case only shorten this process.

Don't ever think that if the process is not shortened, that help is gonna come somehow, his friends somehow are willing to lend him money, he struck a sudden lottery, the government give him help etc etc.

The process that can make a human overcome his instinct to take the final step to end his life, is so long that you can't imagine. He must have run out of ideas, help for at least 3-4 years, maybe longer, to total give up on this life and hope. If help did not come in these 3-4 years(maybe longer), its not gonna come in a matter of 3 -4 days.

So maybe its a sudden thought of suicide that did not take 3-4 years to build up? eg. Dumped by girlfriend or boyfriend, sudden retrenchment, death of a loved one etc

Yes, these people may make the decision to end their life in a matter of hours, or even minutes, but I really don't think the decision is "encouraged" by seeing suicide reports or seeing number of people committing suicide in a year. I really think if someone is this weak after a drastic tradegy, ending his life would have come to his mind sooner or later. It need not be a seeing suicide reports in the newspaper, it can be a scene in the TV, it can be seeing a withered leaf, it can be a beautiful sunset, basically almost anything can trigger the thought of suicide, so it really doesn't make a difference.

Yes, in singapore, there are cases where more and more people "copying" idea of other suiciders, one example is jumping off the track of the MRT (subway) when the train in pulling into the station.

HOwever, all the similars cases are committing suicide due to prolong economical and financial diability. They tried, and tried, and tried, but could not overcome the economical situation, could not survive the ridiculuos help from the government, and finally made the step. The people who see them last could not tell they are gonna committ suicide, that shows how composed they are.

Yes, the method is the same, but, so is the problems and how they finally made the last step to death. A dire straits.

You think a 26 years old lad with no family to feed would kill himself over a retrenchment after seeing a suicide report? You think a young gal who had never married before, not having problems or premaritial pregnancy and social preassure will kill herself over a break up after seeing a suicide report?

I can quote more, but i am sure you can understand what I am trying to say.

On the other hand, in a country where they ban all suicide reports, the same person who killed himself in the recent case will kill himself somehow. Anybody who overcame his instinct to fight in a physical endangering situation WILL suffocate himself to death with a pillow.

The only way to stop all these suicides is to first find out about the reason behind it. For sudden thoughts of suicide due to death of a love ones, retrenchment with million dollars debt(not likely anymore, bankrupcy is not a taboo in singapore anymore), we can't help it, NOT EVEN stopping all suicide reports.

But for those that had been battling their problems for 3-4 years before they make the move, all the more we should report ALL suicide data. Only then would the society wake up from their daily job as a screw in the big economical machinery, only then would the policy makers take a hard look at their policies.

By not reporting suicide cases at all, it is really the "ostrich mentality". You don't face the problem.

I tell you what is successful.

If today, there's a newspaper which only reports on suicides, and its a free newapaper, and yet the suicide cases are only of those "sudden suicidal" types, then the society is successful.

First, people who needs help knows REAL help is available, and not just hopes and hopes from wherever is supposed to come from for 3-4 years.

Secondly, it's a sign of good policy making. Sudden suicide attempts are usually linked with one's own mental strength in emotional tradegies, which would be too unreasonable to ask of public adminstrators to solve.

THirdly, from in depth suicide reports, then we, as a society know what the problems we are really facing and think about how WE can solve it together with the policy makers. If we see someone dying because of economical dire straits, then something is wrong with wealth distribution in a country, or job making, or price index.

Believe me, reporting all these WILL actually reduce the suicide rates, UNLESS the only ones reading them and actually gave a shit are the people who wants to committ suicide.