Sometimes even to live is an act of courage!

We live in a high paced world, with people of different mentalities, with people of different beliefs. Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Suicide has now become a global phenomenon. It has been seen nowadays that a lot of teenagers are also opting to commit suicide because of various reasons. A research in 2016 showed that around 62118 people died of the age group 14-19 that year. These numbers are astonishing and we as the society should understand its seriousness. Death is something which we all are afraid of, it’s a truth which we all fear, but seeing someone wish for it, emanates a question in your mind: ‘WHY?’

To answer this question I did a survey and found that according to people the major reasons for committing suicides are- Substance abuse, long history of depression, tension because of studies or jobs, lack of confidence, no familysupport, no control over emotions, drug addiction, or the loss of someone the person loved. These are some of the many causes which make people take the step towards cessation. In teenagers especially career tension, bad grades in exams, bullying, or some harsh incidents can be the causes of suicide. We all know these reasons, but do we know how to fight against all these? Most of the people who commit suicide do not have anyone to guide them, to care for them, or to make them see ways through which they could lead towards betterment! In the very well known book, ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ by Jay Asher the protagonist Hannah states- “A lot of you cared, just not enough.” We need to start caring as each life matters!

I have seen people saying that people who commit suicides are unstable and weak, that they didn’t have the strength to live and its only their fault that they do not live in this world today! This isn’t true we at times do not see how our actions, very small actions can affect someone. “Everything…affects everything,” wrote Jay Asher in his book ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’. We at times become callous towards people, it is we who bully them and it’s we who mistreat them. At times even suicides are murders too. The same can be seen through various incidents. 

As a teenager in India, I feel that in my country psychological help isn’t being provided to children and teenagers. There are no counselors in schools, and parents usually do not know much about psychology. This is why students have nowhere to go and pour their hearts out, they feel no one would understand what they are going through. This loneliness can also play a major role in the child’s attempt to suicide. I feel that the Government should ensure that there are proper school counselors in every school, who can guide and support teenagers and children through a tough period.

Another thing that I have personally noted is that people at times commit suicide because they do not know how to face failure. In India every year many students are unable to crack competitive exams, most of them do not know how to face failure, to add to this their parents and the society disrespect them and at times call them failures in life! In the year 2019, Sushant Singh Rajput did a movie called ‘Chhichhore’. This picture depicted the same scenario of a boy, who was so scared of failure that when he had a major setback in life he turned towards suicide. Sushant had this dialogue which I still remember, he said-“Everyone tells what to do after achieving success but no one talks about what to do after you fail!” Let’s learn to fail, let’s learn to fight our dismay, let’s have the courage to live, let’s know that suicide isn’t the answer to all our questions because as Albert Camus said: “In the end, one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.”