Contemporary Social Issues based

Assessment
Suicide Associated with social pressure
Sociology

Phase 1:

a) Define the issue along with causes and effects.

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. Some suicides are impulsive acts due
to stress such as from financial difficulties, troubles with relationships, or bullying. Approximately
0.5-1.4% of people die by suicide, roughly 12 per 100,000 individuals per year.
Causes of Suicide and their association with social pressures:

Perfectionism:
Suicide is intensely complex and can seldom be attributed to a single factor, however, personality
traits can play a significant role, including perfectionism, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario interviewed friends and family of people who
had committed suicide and found that 56% of those deceased exhibited a “perceived external
pressure to be perfect”.

“Self-generated and socially based pressures to be perfect are part of the premorbid personality
of people prone to suicide ideation and attempts,” the study explains.

In daily life we experience pressure of being this perfect person failing to depict that image can
also make people target of bullying.
Perfectionism − Many suicide victims were perfectionists, having rigid thinking. A perfectionist
has “all or none” thinking, which is thinking they have to be all “perfect” or they are “no good” at
all. Of course, since no one is perfect, a perfectionist will often feel like a failure, no good at all, or
never good enough
Sociocultural
One of the main sociocultural causes of suicide is the feeling of being isolated or of not being
accepted by others. Feelings of isolation can be caused by sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and
gender identity.

Other possible suicide catalysts in this category include:

 Difficulty seeking help or support
Lack of access to mental health or substance abuse treatment
Following belief systems that accept suicide as a solution to personal problems
Exposure to suicidal behavior.
LGBT with no home support:
Research has found that attempted suicide rates and suicidal ideation among lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth is significantly higher than among the general
population.LGBT adolescents have the highest rate of suicide attempts. According to LGBT rights
organizations as well as scientific research, this is linked to homophobic attitudes and heterosexist
discrimination, including political attacks on the civil rights of LGBT people

b) Establish a relationship between two concepts.

There are a number of peer and social stressors that can contribute to depression and suicidal behaviors.
The Division of Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center provides examples of these
stressors to help friends and family recognize potential warning signs.

Research shows that friends are the first chosen sources of support for teenagers. Therefore, it is
important that teenagers know how to recognize signs of depression and suicidal behaviors in their friends
and talk to them in a helpful way, as well as know where to go for help.

Examples of Peer / Social Stressors

Stressful life events often precede a suicide. Often the life event occurs at a time when the person is
struggling, turning this life event into “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

 A rejection − such as a break-up with a girlfriend or boyfriend

 Disciplinary crisis − could involve legal problems, or a crisis at home or school

 Humiliation − being dishonored in some way

 Gossip / cliques

 Teasing / bullying

 Impressing others

 Peer pressure

 Online social life

 Pregnancy

 High pressure to succeed − i.e., feeling pressured to excel or thinking one cannot meet others’
expectations

 School stressors

 Academic stressors and test anxiety

 Over scheduling

 Lack of support and connection at school. In fact, school connectedness is a protective

factor for depression and suicide. If a child feels he is being picked on or singled out
by teachers or others at school, he is at risk for depression.

 Living in a community with intense pressure to succeed and a high degree of social
connectedness can increase suicide risk, particularly among teenagers, according to
a new study by sociologists at the University of Chicago and University of Memphis.

 The researchers found that these two community conditions tend to be involved in
suicide clusters — a phenomenon in which a series of suicides occur around the same
time and in close proximity

c) Present a global perspective on the issue.

Each time suicide reaches the headlines our attention is directed at particular groups – middle-
aged men, people in deprived areas or in certain professions. This is splitting hairs.

The latest statistics underline the message that Calm (the campaign against living miserably) has
maintained for years; gender runs through UK suicide statistics like letters in a stick of rock. The
highest suicide rate is among men aged 30-44, in men aged 45 to 59 suicide has increased
significantly between 2007 and 2011, and in 2011 more men under 35 died from suicide in the UK
than road accidents, murder and HIV/Aids combined. Even in the 60+ age group, men were three
times more likely to take their lives than women.

Recent University of Liverpool research indicated that the economic downturn was likely to add
1,000 suicides over and above what we could expect; with around 800 more men and 200 women
killing themselves as a direct result of the recession. The research proposed that the government
needed to look at interventions and policies that will sustain and support jobs. Other research by
the Samaritans has focused on older men, concluding that these men, at the lower end of the
socio-economic scale, were emotionally illiterate, which explained their high suicide rate.

Get Society Weekly: our newsletter for public service professionals

Read more
But surely the big question is why suicide is three to four times more likely in men of any age
group?

A complacent explanation for the difference is that men attempt more violent forms of suicide
and are therefore more likely to be successful. But take Scottish deaths from 1974-2008. In 1974
the number of Scottish male deaths from suicide stood at 278, women at 264 – numbers then
diverged dramatically. Male suicides rose year-on-year to a high of 679 in 1993, and the figures
 remained high. Meanwhile female suicides only exceeded 300 in two years during the whole
period.

Poverty and mental health issues affect both genders. The variable factor is culture and society;
how we expect men to act, and how they feel they can behave. Suicide prevention work must,
therefore, address this.

Men, regardless of age group, often don't recognise when they are depressed. Depression in men
is likely to be signalled by anger, so won't be recognised either by men themselves or by women
as depression. Ironically, they may end up in jail rather than a GP's surgery. For a man to ask for
help is seen as failure, because by convention men are supposed to be in control at all times.

It seems to be accepted that men just won't ask for help or therapy. Calm's phonelines tell a
different story. We've found that if you promote a service aimed at men, in a manner that fits
with their lifestyle and expectations, they will ask for help. We struggle to keep up with demand.

We believe that if we are to combat suicide we have to ensure that all men are aware of the
symptoms of depression and feel able to access help without being seen as less of a man for doing
so. If boys can't talk about stuff but girls can then we should tackle this. If men can't get to their
surgery because it's closed during the working week, then address this. Risk assessments need to
reflect gender diversity and women need to be aware of the symptoms of depression in men. We
need to challenge the idea that a "strong and silent" man is desirable and challenge the notion
that men talking, showing emotion and being "sensitive" is weak.

The number of male suicides over the age of 15 in England and Wales from 2001 to 2011 totaled
38,621. The number of women in the same period totaled 12,780. A difference of 25,841. All of
these numbers are too high, but for me the stark contrast between men and women is 25,841
reasons to talk about gender.

d) National policy work on the issue.

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior passed a private member bill on Wednesday that may
abolish a colonial penal law by decriminalising attempted suicide.

The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2017 was moved by PPP senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja.

Through the bill the senator had sought omission of section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860,
that says, “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of
such offence shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one
year, or with fine, or with both.”
A panel of renowned psychiatrists also attended the meeting who highlighted the state of mind
of frustrated individuals who opt to take their own life saying whosoever does it should be treated
as a ‘patient’ rather than prosecuting them for a failed suicide attempt.
 “It is a disease and it should be treated as one. Punishment is meant to create deterrence for a
healthy person not for a mentally disturbed individual,” said psychiatrist and research scholar
Professor Dr Mubashir while adding that ailing people are rehabilitated rather than penalised.

He went on to say that an attempted suicide can be an indicator of many other issues, the first
and foremost being frustration, while informing the committee that many countries have
abolished punishment for the offence.

e) Include the references.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/23/suicide-rates-men-gender-issue
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3477910/
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1518119/attempted-suicide-decriminalised/
https://propakistani.pk/2018/01/31/300000-risk-committing-suicide-pakistan/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1390688
https://www.dawn.com/news/1390688
https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-017-1586-6/
http://www.globaleducationmagazine.com/education-suicide/