Suicide And The Role Of Family Essay

The act of killing oneself or taking one’s own life has now moved out from the shadows of been a taboo topic to one been discussed openly with the hope of helping others that might be thinking of taking his/her life. The word “suicide” comes from two Latin roots, sui (“of oneself”) and cidium (“killing” or “slaying”). Whenever persons decide to commit suicide, this leaves other family members experiencing shock, anger, depression, sadness, despair and confusion. As relatives try to understand what has happened and try to pick up the pieces they are left feeling bewildered as they come to grips with this unspeakable act. It is more likely someone will die from suicide than from homicide. For every two persons killed by homicide, three persons die from committing suicide.Suicide And The Role Of Family Essay

According to the Webster’s dictionary, Suicide is defined as “the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally.” Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death for all ages in 2013. Suicide rates in Jamaica have remained relatively stable for the past few years with mean overall annual incidence of 2. 1 per 100 000 population. Rates for males were significantly higher than those for females. The majority (90. 4%) of suicide cases were males. A trend for higher rates of suicide was generally noted in the 25-34-year and the 75-year and over age groups. Hanging was the main method used to commit suicide (77. 5%). There were 41, 149 suicides in 2013 in the United States — a rate of 12. 6 per 100, 000 is equal to 113 suicides each day or one every 13 minutes. Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death for males and the fourteenth leading cause for females. Males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of females and represent 77. 9% of all suicides whilst firearms are the most commonly used method of suicide among males (56. 9%) and poisoning is the most common method of suicide for females (34. 8%). As it regards to Jamaica, at least one person dies by suicide every week, about twenty have attempted and many others have contemplated the idea. Jamaicans are slowly coming to the realization that suicide is a “big deal” and emphasis should be placed on suicide awareness campaign. In China, someone takes his or her own life on average every two minutes. China accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total of suicides with between 250, 000 and 300, 000 suicides a year and one in seven Canadians has seriously considered suicide, and more than 3, 500 Canadians kill themselves each year. Canada’s suicide rate (currently 12. 3 per 100, 000) is consistently higher than the United States’ rate (currently 11. 2).Suicide And The Role Of Family Essay