10 September is Celebrated as World Suicide Prevention Day

Life is cyclic and the human race follows the major four stages of childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and senior age. Students enter college or university usually at an age when they are 18-20 and no matter how much they want to believe they know many things as they pass out from school, however, they are about to tread on the journey of life which is truly an opportunity to live to the fullest, learn the unknown and wholeheartedly survive the process.

Though no one will tell them this, they will hear the usual bit about super high grades, peer competition, enormous pay check, securing life, and fancy a cupid life. The drama of life begins as one sets big and huge goals and a glittery future image of oneself and this alas is one of the big reasons why youngsters are taking the extreme step of committing suicide. It is alarming that 28 students commit suicides every day as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and suicide is the second most leading cause of death among 15-29 years olds globally.

Clinically, suicide is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable. Blinded by feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness, and isolation, a suicidal person can’t see any way of finding relief except through death. It’s not affected only individual, who died by suicide, it’s affected their related communities & family. We are sharing with you few ways suicide can be prevented by changing the pattern of your thoughts and by sharing/asking for suggestions to help you get out of that mind-set. Remember either you can help yourself or help someone to help you.

If you believe that a friend or family member has suicidal ideation, you can play a role in suicide prevention by pointing out the alternatives, showing that you care, and getting a doctor or psychologist involved. Warning signs that someone may be at immediate risk for suicide include:

• Feeling like a burden
• Being isolated
• Increased anxiety
• Feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
• Increased substance use
• Looking for a way to access lethal means
• Increased anger or rage
• Extreme mood swings
• Expressing hopelessness
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Talking or posting about wanting to die
• Making plans for suicide

Seek Your Answers

Everybody is the same and everybody is different. Same because we are humans with the same five sense faculties, largely same basic needs, and our life struggles though all with varied facets. Not everybody can be great in mathematics, or English or Chemistry or Biology or Sports, however, everybody can be good at what they like to do (with effort, time and your own passion). Time and again this has been proven.

Our desires in life, also follow a cyclic process, a child needs his/her mother for taking care of all the needs from food/cleaning/mothers’ love, adolescents/teens need right education both at home and schools/greater nurturing from elders/resources/great love for ones’ mischiefs, and then the adult age (20-39 yrs.) those 20 years where one expands, experiences life in all its colors, learn the unknown and hopefully figure out the meaning of life so to speak. Middle adult age (40-60) is when as a person you enter middle age of greater maturity, lived life experiences, faced loss/gains, and attained some wisdom as the result of all those above. Lastly comes the senior age where some people can enjoy a life lived well or still remain struggling.

People usually make the same kind of stories/narratives out of their lives throughout unless they learn their lessons. Not to mention that even the most successful people have to deal with stress/struggles. The way out of these struggles is no one ‘fits for all solution’ since everyone is different and unique. It is important to pay head to ones’ true needs/calling and desires. What really makes one happy, and follow that path relentlessly despite challenges and just keep moving in the direction of one's goals no matter how slow/small, as one always gains momentum usually.

According to Sri Bhagavad Gita, there are mainly three gunas (qualities) that people are dominated by sattva, rajas, and tamas. The sattva guna is mainly the ‘spiritual quality, when a person has a natural desire to be good and caring however one of the limitations of it is that it binds people through attachment to happiness and knowledge. The rajas guna is the attribute of passion which includes activity, ambition, action, and change which has the limitation that an excess of it can lead one to become too competitive, egoistic, and hot-tempered. The third one is the tamas guna where one is moving in the direction of ignorance, laziness, and inertia.

The ideal scenario is to keep a balance of all the three gunas (qualities) and henceforth live a balanced life. We need to do a reality check about our inner self and the qualities that have become prominent. It is important to be kind and understanding to others and to oneself and consider life as an opportunity rather than a struggle. As they say, life is a journey not a destination, so enjoy your journey.

Sense of Humour

Surprisingly, the definition of simple humor means being able to see when something is funny and to laugh at things; or the funny or amusing qualities of somebody/something. I know, we have definitely made it complicated by adding the ‘Sense of’ which Merriam-Webster reads as a proud feeling of having done something difficult and worthwhile. We were so better off with our natural sense of humor, wouldn't you agree? The world loves a good laugh and humor is not optional in life as we must be able to add joy in life with giggles and sweet laugh. Humor helps us to drive more materials from life and deliver more products into the inner system. We hope you got our self-deprecating joke! We suggest you become pro at being humorous with this article on eleven types of humor.

Clinical Doctors (trained/professionals) use these pointers.

• Ask: One may ask “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” It’s not an easy question, but studies show that asking at-risk individuals if they are suicidal does not increase suicides or suicidal thoughts. At-risk individuals are difficult to judge and be sure about, so one needs to be careful about this.
• Keep Them Safe: Reducing a suicidal person’s access to highly lethal items or places is an important part of suicide prevention. While this is not always easy, asking if the at-risk person has a plan and removing or disabling the lethal means can make a difference. Also it is best to help them divert their energy to better things.
• Be There: Listen carefully and learn what the individual is thinking and feeling. Research suggests acknowledging and talking about suicide may reduce rather than increase suicidal thoughts. They might want to share incidences of hurt, their troubles, pains, doubts, and other feelings without any judgement, so help them unburdened their baggage.

Our Final Words (this could be ones’ most upfront way to be taken seriously!)

No summary could possibly be final per se as we try to conclude the article. To summarize this article, we would emphasize that as humans, we all through various phases in our lives and we all must be willing to offer support to those who are going through some tough times. You can start with hearing them out, helping them divert their minds to something positive, add some good humor in their life and wisdom. No one has ever gotten out of this life alive, so why make life so dead serious and make it all about ourselves!

For students, it is imperative to have goals for themselves so that they are able to channelize their energy on positive things. A balance of study, play/friends, and family time should be emphasized and a proper schedule for activities should be strived for which leads one to focus on important things. Looking at what one has than what one is lacking, will help develop thankfulness and a feeling of gratitude in oneself.

Try to practice compassion for all living things and try to understand the bigger purpose of human life and start valuing it as a precious gift. When required, seek help from family, your teachers and even helpline numbers. Try putting your time in doing what you enjoy most, get a good sleep, take a break/travel, get in contact with mother earth/outdoors/sunlight, involve yourself in voluntary work, read inspiring stories/content and do what it takes to get yourself happy and thriving again so that you can become fully available to experiencing life with positivity/goodness rather than pessimism and negation.