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About Suicide


What is Suicide?

Suicide is the act of a person intentionally ends their own life.

What is Suicide Attempt?

Suicide attempt is the act of a person intentionally cause oneself death but failed to do so. Suicide attempt may not always result in death, but a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries and affects a person’s mental state.

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Suicide Facts

Suicide is a sensitive topic. It is also one of the common death causes nowadays, regardless of the age, gender, or ethnicity of the person. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 700 thousand people died due to suicide every year, and the numbers are not inclusive of the cases that are not reported! 77% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. Hanging, firearms, and ingestion of pesticides are common methods of committing suicide.

In Asian countries, not restricted to suicide topics, the topic of mental health issues is always seen as a taboo🚫. Hence it is not often mentioned or discussed in public. However, suicide is becoming more and more common in this society, but the public still turns a blind eye towards this topic, criticizing and being judgemental towards people who are suicidal. Fortunately, awareness regarding mental health as well as suicide has increased in the past few years, and relevant organizations also provide help for people in need.

Suicide in Malaysia

In Malaysia, attempted suicide is seen as illegal due to religious beliefs and to protect people from imitating suicide attempts or carrying them out. Nevertheless, the number of suicide cases is still increasing, especially during this pandemic, where the monthly cases in 2021 (94/month) have doubled compared to the monthly cases in 2019 (51/month), and it’s still counting📈! The total number of suicide cases from 2019 to 2021 May are 1,708 cases, half of the total number of cases (872 cases) were found in teenagers aged 15- to 18-years-old. 83.55% of the suicide cases were carried out by females.


Regardless the law enforcement on suicide attempt, the number of suicide cases are still increasing. This indicates that the hardships that were faced by the individuals who committed suicide are intense and unbearable to the extent that they decided to end their lives. The mentioned data regarding the number of cases in Malaysia indicated the need to provide more help to suicidal individuals, especially teenagers and/or females, as well as raise public awareness about suicide in our country.


Nonetheless, mental health should be seen as normal as physical health. Studies have pointed out that poor mental health could increase the risk for physical health issues. Hence, it is crucial for everyone to have high awareness about these issues ✧


References
  1. Are Malaysian women facing an increased risk of suicide?
  2. Selangor tops list of suicide cases between Jan-May this year, says Bukit Aman
  3. Suicide decriminalisation - govt must act now
  4. Suicide: A Tragedy or a Crime?
  5. Suicide (by WHO)
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