Suicide – A Result Of Choice

Life seldom gives a larger blow when our loved ones die by suicide (all of a sudden). Though, there may be warnings of the possibility of death by ways of indifference, previous suicide attempts, mental instability, etc. no one could actually predict when and where a suicidal mind is born. The usage ‘mind’ itself is complicated for debates still go on till date about where to place essentially the two important aspects - ‘mind & brain’. Since time immemorial the act of suicide is there (may be its origin could trace back right from the creation of HomoSapiens). Whether there is an acceptance for it or not, whether the means, mode, approaches are same or different the phenomena, whether in due course of centuries the theories, laws and effect in societies changed or not, it is there around everywhere in different dimensions.

The dictionary definitions for suicide go like this, according to Collins Concise English Dictionary (3rd Edition), suicide is “The act or an instance of killing oneself intentionally” (1346), another definition comes from Stincelli (2001): “Suicide is the intentional act of taking one’s own life, with a conscious awareness of both the effect and finality of the act”. Oxford Dictionary gives it as “the action of killing oneself intentionally”.

Oxford Dictionary of Psychology calls it "The act of killing oneself deliberately". According to Durkheim’s definition of suicide: ‘the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of victim himself, which he knows will produce this result’ further adding to the statement we may put it as ‘the act accomplished by the victim with the intention or prospect of putting death to himself’. The instruments or form of choice i.e., mode of suicide is what distinguishes a suicide from other forms of death. The entire context contradicts when situations like ‘the soldier who courts certain death to court the regiments’ or ‘a martyr who dies for his faith’ arises. In all these cases an order of facts may resemble but the opinion distinguishes. For instance the officer who gets buried beneath the ruins of a fort rather than surrender, the soldier who accepts death in an explosion to take the enemy with him or a ship’s captain who, remaining the last on board, goes does with ship could all be Even the way we express the act of witnessing the bodies are entirely different. In one case death was the condition of a value more important than the individual who killed himself and on the other it might be a useless end in itself. In the former the presence of the remains are not received in the manner in which one discover a suicide. These two orders of fact which resembles two different species in that society is actually a part of the same genus.

Emile Durkheim in his study Suicide mentions individuals being submerged in the society as altruistic suicides. Benevolent suicide or agathusia also comes in this category whose examples could be seen in science fiction stories. The larger framework of sacrifice when put into it would give you varied dimensions which may include even parallel sections such as suicide bombers, suicide terrorist, rampage shooters and other self destructive shooters. Suicide is one such phenomenon which happens irrespective of nations, culture, religion, genders and classes everywhere whether the reason be ‘x’ or ‘y’ but basically most of which are purely psychological issues. Statistically speaking South Indian island nations of Sri Lanka (35.3 suicides per 100k), South Korea in east Asia (28.3 suicides per 100k) and the eastern European country of Lithuania (32.7 suicides per 100k) are the ones having highest suicide rates. Not only these a number of other European countries including Belarus, Poland, Latvia and even Belgium which has the world’s most liberal laws on doctor- suicide has a pretty good suicide number. Another interesting factor regarding the statistical information is that the country which has a high Gross National Happiness index, Bhutan is one among the countries which has a high suicide rate and on the contrary those nations which are most troubled have comparatively low suicide rate. These incredibly diverse data of statistics (collected as per World Population Review 2018) invariably stop us from constraining the general primary for suicide in most of the world such as mental health problems and terminal illness. In the list the positioning of India is 30th (15.7) now which was 11.2 in 2012, 10.8 in 2007 and 7.8 in 1967- an increase of around 7.9%.

The word "suicide" was first introduced in the 17th century which is said to be derived from the Latin words sui (of oneself) and caedere (to Kill). Back in 1642 it was Sir Thomas Browene, a well known physician and a philosopher who coined the term and introduced it in his Religio Medici. The word entered popular English usage around 1700 and by the end of the eighteenth century had gained prominence over "self murder" and the technical felo de se. English law always criminalised suicide and maintained a view which supplemented it with the Christian doctrine. Until say 80’s or till the breakdown of neoclassicism of renaissance there were no change in associating suicide with sin, devil or crime. People like Thomas Aquinas had even formulated a threefold argument against suicide which states that it violate the natural law of self preservation, curtail the Gods power over man’s life and death and moreover it harms the community by eliminating its member, which echoed almost a century stressing that both religious and social duty require that suicide law consider deterrence as well as justice. Fortunately or unfortunately the Noble suicides of Cato, Senenca, Lucretia, and Brutus were in a way pathfinders to have a different perception on the same. Homer by portraying the ancient Greeks matters of honour, actions to avoid humiliation defended suicide. Examples like Hannibal who took poison rather than being captured or as did Demosthenes and many others even Socrates. The conception about suicide rose from aversion to consideration and later to praise.

Some Greek philosophers were of the opinion that rather than suffering, sickness, mental suffering or dishonour- a better opinion would be to put an end to oneself where life could not be considered as a sacred in all its forms. People like Plato and Aristotle considered act of suicide a betrayal, so did Pythagoreans. Even the Roman law prohibited suicide. Strict religious impediments were there in both Christian and Islamic thought for the crime of suicide would result in a divine punishment. Apparently by the middle of eighteenth century did Adam Smith question the conception of ancients through his Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) in the section “Of Systems of Moral Philosophy” where the existence of “a species of melancholy . . . which seems to be accompanied by what one may call an irresistible appetite for self-destruction.” This admission of melancholy later led in foregrounding sympathy in place of condemnation.

Dovetailing the history part of suicide from the aspect of literature it was Dante in his The Divine Comedy he maintained one of the 'grimmest cantos of the inferno’ to the suicides. He placed the souls of the suicide victims in the seventh circle below the burning heretics and the murderers in the shape of warped poisonous thorns. With his age’s orthodox judgement of suicide as a moral sin he included it in his work. It was when renaissance came into the scene, with reasoning, logical and individualistic outlook on suicide with which the moral problems of life, death and responsibility had a multitude of complex dimensions crept into. And then came the first English defense of suicide, Biathanatos by John Donne, where he declared the paradoxical statement that self-homicide is not a natural sin that it may never be otherwise. As Alvarez points out for Donne "Suicide seems not to have been a question of choice or action but of mood, something indistinct but pervasive, like rain." Since Donne himself was prone with the suicidal tendencies he with his wit and learning spread onto the modernistic notion of suicide. Then came Shakespeare with the highest number of suicide in his plays more than any of his contemporaries. There are thirteen suicides in all, two in Romeo and Juliet, one in Julius Creaser, one in Othello, one in Hamlet, one in Macbeth and five in Antony and Cleopatra. Opposing the Christian doctrine and by rediscovering the ancients the renaissance paved way for an aesthetic appreciation of the classical ideas of suicide. This trend continued to be used as a counter balance to the mortal sin of suicide. “These unhappy men are born to misery, past all hope of recovery, incurably sick” – was the notion put forwarded by Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy (pub. 1621) which was three times as popular as Shakespeare’s plays if one may judge by the frequency of publication.

Rational and anatomical thinkers like Montesquieu, Voltaire and Hume as well as lesser figures like Alberto Radicati, Count of Passerano brought very light nature to the subject which even led the age s’ Romantics to be inspired and call it as an ‘age of suicide’. Suicide became a way of fame as well us writers of all genres even considered it as an extra literary topic which is a closed private act to be inflated into public.

By 19th century ideal of death were replaced by more sexually associated activities. But soon did 20th century came into the realm with the themes of death and despair in which death dominated in literature but obsession was more on after-life. In Camus’s The Outsider, in Kirilov’s The Possessed suicide replaced religion and the thought of immortality respectively. The time also witnessed opposite opinion against suicide from people like St. Augustin and Thomas Aquinas. A major hold for the proponents or defenders of suicide was the theory of evolution illustrated through Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species (1859). It was this authentic rationalistic view which broke religious perspective and enabled the modern psycho-analytics to have a say on the same. Emily Durkheim's classic Suicide: A Study in Sociology could be considered as one authentic study which led many other personalities from different fields (say psycho-analysts, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, sociologists, social workers, statisticians to medical men) to actually work on the area.

Detailed initially suicide has been a subject of discussion since time immemorial with a wide range of opinion with innumerable arguments. Different philosophers, psychologist, sociologist have different opinion and even it is could be said without doubt that in a post modernist society any person say ‘a’ or ‘z’ might have at least once in a lifetime thought about the suicide. Be it for a minute of minute reasons or for an unbearable situation (these classification itself is problematic for every persons level of perceiving things is varying). Suicide has become different things to different people a sin, a fundamental, human right, a disease, or a social ill. Opinions like as the fundamental right to live, right to death should be also a basic right. And as a form of human behaviour, suicide is to be treated with utmost importance and so should be analysed and criticised inclusive of all the different aspects that might come on its way. Today even after a separate branch known as Suicidology, which is the scientific study of suicidal behaviour, the causes of suicidalness and suicide prevention had grown with many different fields and disciplines involved with it as psychology and sociology- the phenomena still face some logical root of its own for a section of the society without a stable and concrete concept. The strangeness and obscurity still flow in its way for its incompatability with the natural drive of life. Even many fallacies including that of young lovers, youngsters hike in attempting suicide and even that of bad weather (they say Plath trapped in her flat in one of the worst winters in 150 years which could made her soul meeting its kind in the skies irresistible) prevail in the scenario.

I would say according to me suicide is a result of choice rather than result of causes for a soul determines to do so not just as part of some momentarily decision whereas it may be the result of the suicidal behaviour that he or she might have had within him/her.