Poverty — not the only cause of suicide in Punjab

LAHORE: Refuting popular belief that poverty is the main cause of suicide, psychologists and sociologists contend that taking one’s life was a complex phenomenon. Many factors such as moments of hopelessness, inheritance, maltreatment at childhood and constant failures contribute to suicide, doctors say.

Dr Irum Fatima, an associate professor at the Punjab University, says, “Suicide is caused by extreme depression. Many people are weak, but few take their own lives.”

Dr Naumana Amjad, an associate professor of psychology at the PU, says a person committing suicide is the one who has lost complete hope. However, if the moment of hopelessness passes, he/she can be stopped from killing themselves.



She says a survey was conducted in 1999 to study cases of suicide throughout Punjab. Sharing the findings, the associate professor adds that people tend to “copy” each other when it comes to the method.

Asma Ahmad, another psychologist, says those with suicidal tendencies find negativity in everything.

PU Social Sciences Dean Professor Zikriya Zakir says the person who commits suicide considers all options lost. Talking about the various factors, he says the modern structure of life has put a lot of pressure on individuals.

Rejecting popular perception that poverty is a cause of suicide, he says an abundance of food and availability of resources is the order of the day.

“Living standards have improved and the cost of living has become cheaper. In the past family and social structure did not pressure the individual despite the scarcity of resources, but now this is not the case,” he adds.

Talking on the ways to deal with this problem, Zakir says the society and state have not introduced safety nets for individuals who were possibly suicidal. “Our state needs to introduce a thorough system of psychological counseling to counter suicide in the country,” he says.



“We as individuals need to be more sensitive towards the suicidal victims to cope the issue," he says.

If we feel that a person is in depression and frustration, we should provide them support rather than criticism, says Dr Irum while elaborating the methods to deal with depression.

She says lack of emotional support from family and friends contribute towards committing suicide. She says that our state should consider mental health an issue when making health policies.

Dr Naumana says that our state should introduce a helpline to help suicidal patients so that it could help people in changing their decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2017.