Marisa Micallef, London, UK
Distressing consequences
Considering Malta is a sunny, family-oriented country, the number of a horrific 19 suicides in six months seems high.
Are most male? Are any linked to the credit crunch aka failing businesses, or to the failure felt by so many young people (particularily males who were born to hunt, not sit down and memorise especially at the age we choose to test and assess and deliver a life sentence or in this case a death sentence) in Malta because of a ridiculously onerous, memory based system of assessing our young people?
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Joe Xuereb
Jul 21st 2009, 16:47
You are right but only up to a point. A negative person can indeed pull you down. But don't forget, a negative thinking person has his/her own vulnerability to contend with. Besides, a healthy-thinking person will not be dragged down, whatever the negativity around them. They may be sad at events surrounding them but that is not the same as being depressed. Depression is a very serious condition and should not be treated with throwaway phrases. Lives may be at stake, remember.
A. Attard
Jul 21st 2009, 12:00
oh come on...as if an education system is the main reason for suicide!
negative thinking people create situations for others to contemplate commiting suicide..
Joe Xuereb
Jul 21st 2009, 01:37
Serious depression, if untreated, can lead to suicide. It is inaccurate, and misleading, to blame one instance for a person's death.
Classically, people are insecure so they invest in whatever it is that makes them feel fine. This could be a high investment in a healthy bank balance, a career, a relationship, a dream of some sort that keeps them going. However, all these things provide a temporary and indeed, a very fragile security. Take away the anchor that is the investment and the person concerned fragments and disintegrates. This can best be described as a building, beautifully presented but with hairline cracks that gape ever wider at every unpleasant event that befalls the individual. So, apart from falling share values, failed relationships, failed exam, failed anything previously felt assured and guaranteed, even the loss through death of a fairly distant relative or friend can act as a catalyst for one to question what one is about in life. cont./
Joe Xuereb
Jul 20th 2009, 19:24
cont./ If the feeling is that the investment somehow did not come up to scratch, that it failed, that it was never really viable in any case, then the person has a crisis of identity. They invested too much outside of themselves, unwisely, singularly and failed to realise, or be taught, that investment has to be in the inner workings of the self. One does not build an identity on something or someone outside of oneself. That is asking for trouble. Investment outside the self can never be assured. Classically, the young (or not so young) woman, or man for that matter, who are often heard to say, 'if I met somebody who loved me forever, I would be happy'. Big, big mistake. So, fear of failure (exams, etc.) is traumatic enough. Pressure of any sort is lethal to the healthiest individual. But what is important to understand are the undermining elements that have been going on for ages, cracking up the person inside. Help is out there. Proper diagnosis is crucial. Also, the patient's co-operation. Initially, medication helps. But long-term, cognitive therapy, understanding of the self, is necessary. Outside props are useless.
Karl Consiglio
Jul 20th 2009, 18:33
I don't think that anyone kills
himself for just one reason.