SUICIDE MISSIONS

A decisive death by oneself through one designates or there other is indeed an alarming circumstance these days. This is rampant perhaps because of the economic situations across the world where impecuniosities is ruling especially the underdeveloped part of the world.

Much has been verbalised in recent times about incrementing numbers of suicides among the puerile, and rightly so, for what more preponderant tragedy is there than the needless death of a puerile person, full of life and promise? Yet, overlooked in the headlines is the fact that the suicide rate in most countries elevates steadily with age. This is true whether the overall suicide rate in a given country is high or low, as the box on the preceding page shows. A glance at those statistics additionally reveals the ecumenical nature of this obnubilated epidemic. 

Reports about suicide cases are on the increase since 1996 according to reports which verbally expressed that the number of suicides among Americans aged 65 and older had jumped by 36 percent since 1980. In 1996 the authentic rate of suicide among those over 65 withal went up, by 9 percent, for the first time in 40 years. Of injury-cognate deaths, only falls and motor-conveyance crashes killed more elderly Americans. Authentically, even these alarming figures may be too low. “Suicide is suspected of being grossly understated in the statistics predicated on cause-of-death certification,” observes A Handbook for the Study of Suicide. The book integrates that some estimate the genuine figures to be twice as high as the reported statistics.

The Cumulated States, like many other countries, is suffering from the obnubilated ecumenical epidemic of senior-denizen suicide. Despite the fact that the suicide rate in the Cumulated States elevates consistently and markedly with age, suicide among older people has received little public attention. Why is that? He suggests that component of the quandary is that since the suicide rate for older people has always been high, “it has not engendered the sudden alarm accompanying the dramatic increase in youthful suicide.

A TERRIBLE EFFICIENCY

These statistics, albeit shocking, are just cold numbers. They cannot convey the solitude of life without a cherished mate, the frustration of lost independence, the despair of a lingering disease, the vacuousness of chronic despondency, the hopelessness of a fatal illness. The woeful truth is that while adolescent people may endeavour suicide as a temerarious reaction to ephemeral quandaries, older people are customarily faced with quandaries that seem to be aeonian and unsolvable. As a result, they often approach suicide more determinedly than the puerile and carry it out with a terrible efficiency.

Not only is suicide significantly more prevalent among older persons, but the suicidal act itself reflects consequential distinctions between old and puerile. In particular, the ratio of endeavoured to genuine suicides shifts quite markedly among older persons. Among the population holistically, the ratio of endeavoured suicides to authentic suicides has been estimated to be 10 to 1; among the puerile (15-24), it has been estimated to be 100 to 1; and among those over 55, it has been estimated to be 1 to 1.

What sobering statistics! How dispiriting to grow old, lose physical vigour, and suffer pain and sickness! Little wonder so many commit suicide. Yet, there is the puissant reason to treasure life—even under very arduous circumstances. Consider what transpired to Mary, who was mentioned in the prelude.