Understanding the complex phenomenon of suicide
Social support needed to overcome emotional suppression
Looking into human nature, it’s easy to assume that people are born with the instinct of self-love and the desire to live, which brings one to wonder how the idea of committing suicide gradually sneaks into the mind of some people, creating this ongoing conflict of choosing between life and death. Dr Talal Alali, an assistant professor at Kuwait University’s psychology department, started by highlighting the previous fact and addressing the type of conflict that every human being is prone to, which on rare occasions, escalates to the idea of quitting life.
While one’s instinct keeps on holding them back from taking this action, sometimes it’s too late for them to control the idea any longer, he told Kuwait Times. “The majority of people don’t surrender to this idea, but unfortunately some do, and in a moment of weakness, they commit it without being aware of its consequences,” Dr Alali said. Suicide, Dr Alali noted, is a very complicated and unnatural behavior that undeniably exists in Kuwait and in all societies, resulting from different causes that vary from one individual to another. Around 136 suicide attempts were registered in Kuwait during 2022, the latest figures available.
One of the most neglected causes of suicide is living in an emotionally suppressing environment that doesn’t give a chance for someone to express their thoughts or feelings out loud, making it hard to continue living with that burden. “Not every person committing suicide does it out of psychological disorders, because sometimes it’s the environment surrounding them that’s unhealthy and emotionally stressing,” Dr Alali said.
This kind of suppression, whether it’s out of academic, work, financial or family related stress, if kept increasing, can easily make someone lose their sense of self value and appreciation. In return, this can deeply affect their positive view of life in general, forcing them to seek an escape out of it. “When humans feel stressed, they become unpredictable,” he affirmed. Dr Alali noted that the first step of every suicide attempt is “suicide ideation”, which is a popular psychological term that means thinking about suicide or taking your life. This behavior encourages one to share the idea with people out loud, which helps in normalizing the act of committing suicide. “The human mind is very sensitive and smart — even when a person talks in an informal way, in many ways they are trying to prepare the ground for practicing the behavior itself,” he said.
According to Dr Alali, a person who is about to commit suicide gives people enough clues about their intentions before making an attempt, in the hope that someone might notice and try to save them before it’s too late. The problem is that most of the time, we ignore these signs, and even when we acknowledge them, we keep attacking the person, adding extra pressure on their shoulders. Without realizing, we find ourselves unconsciously involved in facilitating their decision of committing suicide. “Even when we think we are helping them, we notice that we are just making things harder on them,” he said.
Dr Alali explained that to prevent the spread of this kind of phenomenon, the behavior of society must be altered. People should stop judging each other and providing unsolicited advice unless they are asked to, because sometimes all what a person needs is just someone to listen to them and understand their pain, without uttering a single word.
Listening, on its own, can restore someone’s sense of self-worth, bringing back their connection with life, as it provides a sense of psychological security. “I have dealt with multiple cases of people who faced severe mental challenges in their lives, but never thought of committing suicide because they were given the social support that they needed. They had someone to listen to them, be it a parent, a sibling or a friend,” Alali affirmed.