In the book Hamlet, Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is questioned to have committed suicide, which is considered a sin back in the days of Hamlet. Today to some it is still considered a sin; to others it is a way out, well to those who commit suicide.
When people contemplate suicide they always seem to show warning signs that must not be ignored, because if they are ignored and you noticed them, you let someone die when it could have been prevented. Some of the warning signs are hopelessness, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, self-hatred, withdrawn, irritable, social isolation, declining interests in activities that were previously enjoyed, and self-starvation. People that are showing signs want to be saved, they want to live. Never think that once someone has made up their mind to commit suicide that you cant stop them because you can.
The yearly statistics for suicide are horrible, in the years between 1952 to 1992 suicide among teens tripled, now it has become the third leading cause to teenage death in America. Though the teen rate of suicide is low it still has a major to every person suicide touches with its dirty hand. It is said that in all age groups that men are more successful at committing suicide then females, making the male suicide rate larger than females. What I found strange about my research was the fact that the suicide rate in the elderly is very high, especially that of white males over 85. Think about it there were 31,204 suicides in 1995, which means someone takes their life every seventeen minutes.
Suicide is something that affects not only the person that committed the act, but also everyone that they knew. When I was in fifth grade my cousin committed suicide at the age of sixteen. It was a sad time, you constantly wonder why they did it and always blame it on yourself. His mother was at a loss and his younger sister was left scared for life. It is like something that rips apart your family at the very seams. When someone commits suicide there is no turning back for them, there are no goodbyes, just a plate full of questions that will never be answered.
Suicide is permanent and unforgiving. People take their life by gun, hanging, or poison. It is very scary when you watch someone let their body eat away at itself as they slowly kill themselves because they don’t have the will to live anymore. My cousin killed himself with a gun, and one of my friends tried to starve himself to death. I helped him because he told me he didn’t want to live anymore, I couldn’t let him die it wouldn’t of been right. I knew that it would tear his family apart so I told someone and got him help. Suicide victims are not the ones that take their lives they are the ones that get left behind. If you think that you know someone on the brink of committing suicide show him or her that you care. Remember that suicide is a permanent solution to a solvable problem.
Written by Jessica Rose
Statistics and information about suicide was found at:
http://www.rochford.org/suicide/resource/stats/us/
http://www.rochford.org/suicide/inform/warnings/