We Need To Talk About Suicide in Cultures. Is it a viable solution?

The subtle nature of death is its impact on both the living and the dead.

Death is never understood, but often taken as a pain reliever especially in suicide. Suicide, is more often than not, a fragile link to understanding how and why one lived. Even so, does culture present a solution to growing suicide cases globally?

Suicide requires an exploration through a cultural spectrum to understand its prevalence. It also helps to understand the motivations and possible solutions for the people from distinct cultures.

Suicide is complex.

Most people that kill themselves either bear symptoms of emotional struggle or not. Rebecca Clay believes that suicide is often caused by motivations that emanate from the society, culture, family, or economy. These motivations differ based on culture. In some cultures, social behavior restricts aspects of contemporary culture. This leads to a conflicted upbringing and mental state of mind.

For example, in Japanese culture, the concept of honor is important in the culture. It has been entrenched into families and individual lives through centuries of discipline and practice. Thus, any cultural misdemeanor that brought shame often resulted in ritual or honorable suicide. This was common among the Samurai and is a prevalent trend in the Japanese suicide forest- Aokigahara.

Among the Native Americans, suicide has existed due to years of seclusion, abuse, and discrimination in their ancestral lands. This has hardly changed as they still live in reservations, which affects their welfare, causing depression and a rise in suicide cases.

Culturally, people are also affected by history or a social life conflicting with modern technology and capitalistism. There is a struggle to connect with others as everyone is in a race to be financially independent and socially disconnected.

This contemporary perspective affects Latinos, whose adult generation struggles to cope with the family separation. Family ties are critical in maintaining an optimistic life in this culture. Notably, in the United States, about 243,000 Latins perceive suicide every year. It hardly improves as innovations and globalization affects employment and separates families.

Suicide has cultural motivations.

The inclinations towards killing oneself vary. In non-westernized cultures, forcing people to accept western dressing, languages, food, and entertainment may attract depression and suicide. Rebecca Clay also observed that compelling one to remain in their culture, may also increase suicide rates.

Suicide can also increased due to politics. For example, relying on historical-political struggles that had death and abuse to gain political mileage, may affect those who share the grief from such historical events. This may sink them into depression and suicide.

The best approach to suicide remains to be communication. In Japanese culture, speaking about suicide was once considered taboo. However, today, both depression and suicide are publically discussed. This has successfully helped people to combat depression and suicide.

Cultures have their means of preventing suicide.

The approaches may be psychological or physical.

In the African communities, suicide was a taboo. The aspect of life beyond the grave enabled the community leaders to curse anyone that committed suicide. This creating fear, which worked well in preventing suicides.

In the Abrahamic religions, suicide is a sin against God. Thus, killing oneself is a sin punishable by eternal condemnation. In Japanese culture, suicide allowed the Samurai class to die with honor. The rest of the society objected to seeking such a kind of death as it left the family dishonored instead.

In contemporary society, cultures prevent suicide by invoking the impact of an individual on the community. This enables people to meditate on their significance to the culture and society, hence, appreciate it.

Among the Latinos, the concept of the family hood is often invoked to prevent them from suicide.

By understanding these cultural prevention measures, counselors and families can use them prevent suicides in the society.