Research Paper on Suicide.pdf

“There is one suicide in every 40 seconds, somewhere in the world” ~WHO

Research Paper

North South University SUICIDE AND ITS CONDITION IN BANGLADESH Submitted byBUSHRA NAIR

Submitted toDr. Deena Forkan (DF) Course Instructor

Submission Date17th August, 2016

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Acknowledgement As a student of BBA, it was an exceptional experience for me to conduct thorough research on Suicide and its’ increasing affect in Bangladesh. First of all I would like to thank the almighty Allah for blessing me with my intellectual ability and sound health to complete the research work in due time. Next I would like to thank my honourable faculty and persistent mentor Dr. Deena Forkan (DF) for giving me this opportunity to work on this topic and providing all the necessary assistance throughout the semester to help me through different stages of the research. I feel really blessed and delighted to have such a dedicated person by my side. I would also like to thank my mother for supporting me by providing coffee and snacks when I had to work till midnight on this research, as she knows I can’t work properly in empty stomach and when I feel sleepy nothing but coffee can only help. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the people helped me with my primary research by taking part in the survey which is undoubtedly the most vital part of my research. Without their contribution in the survey, conducting the whole research would not be possible. Heartiest thanks to them for their earnest co-operation.

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Abstract This research is based on the issue of increasing affect of Suicide in Bangladesh, which is spreading severely like flu. This research provides its’ readers with considerable insight into the problem from context of the people living in Bangladesh. In my hypothesis, I’ve mentioned that government is not aware about the extremeness of suicide situation in our country and general people have little idea about this as well; which is impacting to decrease suicide. From my research findings, I’ve found that people don’t know if suicide is predictable or not but they surely believe that it is preventable. They also think, if society and government work together to take control of suicide then situation might get better. So government needs to be alert to take control of suicide situation as soon as possible and create awareness among people. In a third world country like ours, it’s probably very tough for our government to pay heed on suicide situation whereas child labor, different calamities, terrorism etc are always in preferred list; but at least our society has the responsibility to take actions to prevent possible suicide attempts. Because there’s no cure of suicide once it is done. So prevention is the only way which is very much possible. So thus, my research findings have matched with my hypothesis.

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Table of Contents Formation parts Introduction

Page no.

1-2

Background

3-4

Research Area Findings

5-7

Hypothesis

8

Methodology

9

Data presentation and analysis

10-29

Summary of research findings

30

Limitations

31

Recommendation

32-33

Conclusion

34

Reference

35

Appendix

36

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Introduction The word “Suicide” is derived from a latin word where ‘sue’ means oneself and ‘cide’ means killing. Death caused by self directed injurious behavior with an intention to die. So the behavior is known as Suicide. The term “Committing Suicide’ is highly discouraged because it denotes sin or crime.

According to Psychologist John M. Grohol, “Suicide is a solution to someone who is suffering from severe depression or sad mood (e.g.- feeling lost or deep down broken)” (Grohol, J. 2009). Usually people overwhelm by difficult situations and get depressed easily. So they tend to choose suicide when pain exceeds tolerance; as it seems to be the only way out at that moment. And they don’t know another way to deal with it at that time.

A reason of depression can be “Atelphobia”- fear of not being good enough. In human mind, there’s a want to stand out among all or to fulfill the desire of parents or close ones. But when one can’t succeed then he feels depressed. He starts thinking he isn’t worthy to be loved. It scares him out and gives him a lower self esteem and ruins his confidence overnight and in worst case this ‘Atelphobia’ turns him to commit suicide.

Suicide is a global public health problem, particularly in Asia where suicides rate is high enough in a few countries with large populations which account for a majority of the world’s suicides. Each year worldwide approximately one million people die of suicide, besides 10-20 million attempt suicides and 50-120 million are severely affected by the suicide or attempted

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suicide of someone close. But surprisingly, whoever survives a suicide; mostly live their life happily afterwards. (WHO, 2012)

Every 40 seconds someone dies by suicide somewhere in the world. For each 'successful' suicide, there are estimated to be 20 suicide attempts. Suicide is one of the three leading causes of death among 15-44 years old people globally. The world statistics show that suicide is the second leading cause of deaths among 15 to 29 year-olds globally. (WHO, 2012)

Suicide should be one of the major concerns worldwide. So “World Mental Health Day” is on 10th October, started from 2013 and “World Suicide Prevention Day” is on September 10th to create awareness among people. WHO member states have committed to reduce the suicide rate of their countries by 10% by 2020. So government of Bangladesh needs to plan effectively to reduce suicide in our country as well.

This paper is going to provide important information about suicide reasons, how to spot signs of danger and secure to help a person on the edge... before it's too late.

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Background If we look back to suicide history in ancient times, suicide was never accepted and in Europe it was regarded as sin. In ancient Athens a person who committed suicide with suicide with state approval, used to be deprived of honour of a normal burial. .(Maris, Ronald. 2000). And in ancient Rome suicide was initially permitted, but later they considered it as a crime against the state due to its economic costs. (Dickinson, Michael, George. 2010). But in 1854, attempting suicide was first known as a “Crime”. By 19th century in Europe, the act of suicide had shifted from being viewed as caused by sin to being caused by insanity in Europe. (Maris, Ronald. 2000) Although suicide remained illegal during this period, but by the middle of the 20th century, suicide had become legal in many of the western countries because some denied the fact that it shouldn’t be illegal or counted as a crime as it doesn’t affect anyone and probably an advantage of individuals’ life.

According to WHO report, over 100,000 people die due to suicide worldwide each year. Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally in 2012. 75% of global suicide occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2012. (WHO, 2012)

The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 populations. On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. And 1.8% of worldwide deaths are by suicides. Global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years.

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According to police headquarter recorded in Bangladesh that, nearly 60,000 cases of suicides in the last six years while they recorded 1029 such cases in 2013 alone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2012, Bangladesh stands in 10th according to the list of high suicide-prone nations. On 2015, convener of anti-suicidal campaign forum “Brighter Bangladesh” Joyosree Jaman told in a press briefing, “the most of the victims aged between 21 and 30 who were led by extreme emotions due to different family or social reasons.” (Daily Sun, 2015)

According to WHO report on 2012, among most suicide prone countries Bangladesh was in 10th and more than 10000 people died by suicide every year.(Daily Sun, 2015). From 20022009, 73,389 committed suicide due to various reasons. And mostly hanged themselves or swallowed poison. 28 persons are committing suicide everyday on average. There’s more than 200 expert doctors who treat mental health diseases alone in Dhaka city.(Daily Star, 2015)

So through all the statistical data, it is clearly visible that suicide has increased unbelievably not only worldwide but in our country as well. Previously when the family bonding was much stronger, suicide was heard less than now. Mostly people are attempting suicide because of insecurity, depression etc which is a reason of weak family bonding in our country. So, mental health specialists can’t help this situation alone whereas this topic needs public awareness which is a major duty of government.

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Research Areas Through my research I look forward to exploring the possible reasons and effects of Suicide. Through my research I would attempt to answer the following research questions:

1.

Has suicide increased worldwide in past few decades? How alarming it is?

2.

What are the main reasons behind suicides?

3.

Does the suicide rate vary from male to female? Or teenage to adults?

4.

How people react about a suicide at present?

5.

How can people and communities can work together to prevent suicide?

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Findings 1.

The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 populations. One person dies by suicide in every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. Global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years and 1.8% of worldwide deaths are by suicides. Suicide is one of the three leading causes of death among 15-44 years old people globally. From all these information, I think it’s very clear that suicide is now increasing in an alarming condition and spreading like a flu. So people need to aware of it and gain knowledge ab0ut prevention.

2.

The main reasons behind suicide in worldwide are depression and loneliness. But in our country major reasons of suicide are- depression, loneliness, family disputes, stress, relationship, dowry etc.

3.

In Bangladesh, men than women suicide ratio is 1:3. But in developed its 3:1 on average which is completely opposite. And in wealthier countries, men aging 50 years or above and women over 70 years are particularly vulnerable to suicide because of loneliness than young adults. But in our country it’s converse again. Here, 28% of suicide are under age of 18 and mostly are young women aging 15-29 years because different social and mental disgrace. So clearly ages and genders vary from one region to other.

4.

Suicide has over the year changed the status from a sin to a disgrace for a society like ours. And as a topic of discussion seems like a taboo as people don’t want to talk about suicide because it’s a very sensitive issue. And don’t to defame their own. They care about their own reputation instead of awareness because of reserved social system. The xi

person who ever attempted suicide never wants to talk about it in front of others and thinks that it’s a disgrace if anybody knows about it.

5.

Our society and government have to play an important role to reduce suicide. Prevention can be- good counseling from mental health professionals, being optimistic towards life, making safety plans, improve family bonding, fight the ups and downs in life proactively, keeping up the support to the suicide prone people throughout the long haul to make them feel not alone. I talked about the prevention of suicide in the recommendation part of this research in detail.

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Hypothesis People are depressed and frustrated towards life nowadays. Various reasons like- depression, stress, family problem etc have boosted the rate of suicide irresistibly. Suicide should’ve become a national concern by now but uncertainly it’s not a major concern yet; as government and society none are much conscious about its growth rate in our country- where my hypothesis became correct. It’s because government are not paying any attention regarding suicide and that’s the reason people are much unaware about suicide and its effect. People don’t know if suicide is predictable or not. But this is unacceptable as our country will be facing the consequences in near future as a whole, if right away necessary preventions are not taken regarding suicide and make people aware of this.

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Research Methodology Primary Source For understanding and incorporating the random sample of the general people’s perspectives, I have conducted a survey using a questionnaire that I have eventually developed. I have distributed my questionnaire among various people whom are from different age groups and from different places in Bangladesh. Regarding the survey, it was conducted on total 52 people.

Secondary Source I have collected information from a wide array of online books, journals, articles of newspaper or different specialists or sociologists, different statistical report etc.

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Tabulation Percentage providing chart based on survey in the topic- “Suicide in Bangladesh” Question

Answer Options

No. A

B

C

D

E

F

1

90.4%

1.9%

7.7%

0%

2

14%

16%

40%

30%

3

4%

43%

39%

12%

2%

4

4%

6%

9%

10%

15%

20%

5

50%

27%

17%

4%

2%

0%

6

23%

57%

10%

4%

6%

7

71%

2%

8%

19%

8

58%

31%

11%

9

31%

46%

0%

21%

10

48%

33%

19%

0%

11

56%

2%

42%

12

33%

28%

10%

18%

9%

2%

13

30%

28%

18%

15%

7%

2%

14

23

6

35

36

36

G

36%

2%

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Primary Data Analysis 1. Have you ever heard of any suicide happening to someone around you?

Heard of any Suicide incident?

1.90% 7.70%

I heard

I can't remember

0.00% I saw and it was terrific

90.40%

I don’t care what happens around me

I asked people if they had ever heard about any suicide. 90.4% responded that “I heard”, 7.7% said “I saw and it was terrific”, only 1.9% said “I can’t remember” and none chose the option “I don’t care what happens around me”.

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2. What do you think about “Suicide”?

Perception about "Suicide" Intentional killing of oneself 30% A multi dimensional disorder of a person 14% 40%

Destroying the best gift of God (life)

16%

Killing oneself when pain exceeds tolerance

I asked another question to know what people think about suicide. This question was just to understand what people think about suicide. Over here 14% said that “It is intentional killing of oneself”. 16% said that “A multi dimensional disorder of a person”. 40% said “Destroying the best gifts of God (life)” and 30% said “Killing one self when pain exceeds tolerance”.

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3. What is the probable range of ages do you think is the most common who attempts suicide?

Probable age of Suicide 39% 13-16

12%

16-20 21-25

2%

25-35

4% 35-above

43%

I asked another question to know how much people can guess about the probable age of people who are more prone to suicide. So 43% people said the age range of “16-20” that means late teenagers. 39% people chose the age range of “21-25” years and 12% said more prone to suicide are “25-35” ages people. Only 4% said it can “13-16” years of teenagers and 2% said “35-above” ages of person are more likely to attempt suicide.

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4. What do you think is the main reason behind committing suicide?

Probable reasons of committing suicide 40% 35%

36%

30% 25% 20%

20%

15%

15%

10% 9%

10%

6%

5% 4%

0% Academic/ Work pressure

Financial Setback

Being bullied

Loneliness

Family Issue

Stress

Depression

The above chart is to know about the probable main reasons behind committing suicide. So 4% supported “Academic/ work pressure”, 20% supported “Stress”, 10% said “Loneliness”, 15% said “Family Problems”, 9% said “Being bullied”, 36% said “Depression” can be a major reason & only 6% said “Financial Setback”.

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5. What makes you feel stress?

Stress Reasons 60% 50% 50% 40% 30%

27% 17%

20% 10%

4%

2%

0%

0% Relationships Parents Issue

Academic/ Work pressure

Bullying

Others

Friends

I wanted to know the main reasons that can make people stressed. 50% said “Relationships”, 27% said “Parents Issue”, 17% said “Academic & Work pressure”, 4% said “Bullying”, 2% said “Others” and none supported “Friends” that means friends never stress them out.

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6. How many suicides do you think happen in Bangladesh in every year?

Rate of Suicide

4%

6% 23%

10% less than 1000 1000 - 3000 3000 - 5000 5000 - 10000 10000 - above

57%

I asked a question about the suicide rate of Bangladesh in every year. To know how much people are concern and know about this topic. So there, 57% of people chose “1000-3000” of people, 23% chose “less than 1000”. On the other hand, 10% chose “3000-5000”, 6% chose “10000-above” and lastly 4% chose “5000-10000”. But surprisingly very few did know the right answer.

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7. Do you think, current generation is easily driven by emotion?

Current Generation is emotionally driven 2% Yes they are

8% Suicide is not related to emotions

19% 71%

It might seem they are emotionally driven but they are not This generation is a mess

I asked about current generation, if they are way more emotionally driven or not. So Most of the people (71%) agreed “Yes, they are”, 19% said “This generation is a mess”, 8% said “It might seem they are emotionally driven but actually they are not” and only 2% thinks “Suicide is not related to emotions”.

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8. Do you think Suicide is predictable?

Is "Suicide" predictable? No, because it's hard to understand a change within human mind 58%

Yes a change can be identified by a person who is close to us 31% No idea 11%

I asked if people think that suicide is predictable or not. So 31% think that “Yes, a change can be identified by a person who is close to us”, 58% think that “No, because it’s hard to understand a change within human mind” and 11% had “No idea”.

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9. Do you think less family bonding is a great issue for suicide?

Can less family bonding be an issue? Yes it can be

46%

When children are scared to share their problems with parents

0%

Not really

21% When parents involve into violence in front of kids

31% 2%

When parents give more importance to work than kids

I personally think that less family bonding can be an issue for suicide. So I asked about this issue what others think. So 46% said “When children are scared to share their problems with their parents” then it can be a problem. 31% stated that- “yes it can be”, 21% said- “when parents involve into violence in front of kids”. And only 2% agreed on “When parents give more importance to work than kids”. Whereas nobody chose the option “Not really” which means everyone agrees with my perception. These responses clearly show that family bonding can be a serious issue.

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10. Do you think suicide is preventable?

Is "Suicide" preventable? 50%

48%

45% 40%

33%

35% 30% 25%

19%

20% 15% 10%

0%

5% 0% I think so

Depends on It's precaution preventable if the person is willing to

It's not possible

I wanted to know what people think of suicide if it is preventable or not. So among all 48% chose the point “I think so”, which shows they think it is possible, 33% said “Depends on precautions” that means precaution can bring the change of possible suicide attempts in future. 19% said “It’s preventable if the person is willing to”, that means precaution can be taken for a suicidal person, but in the end it’s the person who needs to be strong to fight against the odds and start living and accepting the life as it is. And surprisingly nobody chose the option “It’s not possible”, which means everybody believes that suicide has prevention.

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11. What do you think is the position of suicide problem in Bangladesh?

Perception about "Suicide" in Bangladesh

It's a silent disease that's spreading dangerously

56% It's not a problem at all

42% 2%

The problem isn't still too much but it should be stopped before it's too late

The above pie chart is about the perception of people about the suicide situation in Bangladesh. So 56% said “It’s a silent disease that is spreading dangerously”, 2% said “It’s not a problem at all” and 42% said “The problem is still not too much but should be stopped before its too late”.

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12. What is the best way to decrease suicide?

Possible solution to prevent suicide

35% 33%

30% 28%

25% 20% 18%

15% 10%

10%

9%

5%

2%

0% Counseling

Family Bonding

Change in lifestyle

Good influence

Being optimistic

Others

The above chart is about the ways of decreasing suicide. So among all the options 33% chose the option “Counseling”, 10% chose “Changing Lifestyle” and 18% chose ‘Good Influence”. 28% chose “Family Bonding”, 9% chose “Being Optimistic” and only 2% chose “Others” option.

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13. What is the best way to decrease suicide as a government or a society?

30%

30% 28%

25% 20% 18%

15%

15%

10% 7%

5% 2%

0% Creating awareness

Right counseling system

Proper Education

Stop bullying/ Comparing tendency

Economic stability

Others

The above chart is about the steps government and society can take to prevent possible suicide attempts. So 28% supported “Providing right counseling system”, 30% supported “Creating Awareness”, 15% supported “Stop bullying/comparing tendency”, 18% supported “Proper education”, 7% supported “Economic stability” and only 2% supported “Others” option but didn’t mention anything.

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14. Do you think suicide will decrease in future? Probability of "Suicide" decrease 40%

36% 35%

35% 30% 25%

23%

20% 15% 10%

6%

5% 0% It can be

It might not

Depends on a future situation of a person

Depends on a future situation of a society

My last question was if people think the probability of suicide can reduce in future? Only 6% said “It might not”; which means less people are now hopeless. 23% said “It can be” that means they are expecting a positive change. 35% said “Depends on a future situation of a person”, which shows uncertainty. And 36% said “Depends on a future situation of a society”, which means something can happen only if the society does how this matter needs to be dealt with to bring a positive change.

So from overall survey, I found out that people are not aware about the extreme condition of suicide in Bangladesh. They don’t know if suicide is predictable or not. But they know the possible reasons and solutions as well. And they are hopeful that prevention is possible. And a proper plan from government can help society to work on trimming down this issue.

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Secondary Data Analysis Joyosree Jaman, convener of anti-suicidal campaign forum “Brighter Bangladesh” said at a briefing at the National Press club, “Suicide appears to many people as permanent solution to their temporary problems but the experts found that most of those who survived their suicide attempts are happy as they are still living in the world,” (Daily Sun, 2015)

Most of the men suicide happen in Bangladesh because of land dispute, women suicide because of marriage and abuse, young boys and girls because of failure in exams, relationships etc. Most likely young women of Bangladesh take away their life due to frustration or dowry issue etc. Main reasons founded behind suicide are- depression, dowry, family feud, stalking, affair, social stigma etc. (Daily Star, 2015)

Young generation is emotionally driven and because of that they don’t afraid to attempt suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 24 and the fourth leading cause for persons between the ages of 10 to 14 and it seems to be on the rise. It’s estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves every year, and about 5000 succeed. Sadly, most parents and peers don't know how to recognize or handle the warning signs that someone is contemplating suicide (WHO, 2012). 28 percent of suicides are under the age of 18. Parents of Bangladesh expect so much from their child and sometimes it is beyond their capability. People who have strong family support and had positive development are less at risk of suicide. (Daily Star, 2015)

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Symptoms of Suicide While a person takes the decision of doing suicide, he/she probably thinks that there’s no meaning of his/her life; as in he/she is the unhappiest person of all. His/her personality changes dramatically. If we want to prevent suicide, we need to perceive some suicidal symptoms to understand if the person is actually suicidal or not.

He/she is probably always distracted, forgetful even when he/she is talking to someone. He/she might seem quite unbothered about anything that happens around him/her. He/she may talk about suicide, or killing oneself, even in a joking manner. Making arrangements or setting one's affairs in order. He/she may have trouble getting along with other friends or with parents. He/she probably started using drugs and/or alcohol. She/he is complaining of headaches which may or may not be real. He/she probably starts reading materials about death and suicide.

According to Psychologist John M. Grohol who has written in his “Common Signs of Someone Who May be Suicidal” about some common signs of being depressed are

Change in person’s sleeping patterns (e.g.- either sleeping too much or too little, or having difficulty sleeping the night through).



A significant change in the person’s weight or appetite.



Speaking and/or moving with unusual speed or slowness.



Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities or one cares about (e.g.- hobbies, outdoor activities, hanging around with friends etc).



Isolation from family and friends. xxxi



Fatigue or loss of energy.



Reduced the ability to think or concentrate, slow processing of thinking and indecisiveness.



Feelings worthless, helpless or guilty.



Thoughts of death, suicide or wishes to be dead. (Grohol, 2009)

Types of Suicide In “Man Against Himself” by Karl Menninger compiled some self-destructive behavior ranging from war to nail-biting. He divided suicide into three groups: 

“Chronic" suicide includes alcoholism, martyrdom, psychiatric illness, and antisocial actions;



"Focal" suicide targets specific parts of the body, as in self-mutilation, or deliberate "accidents"; and



"Organic" suicide, where people supposedly lose their will to live and die of illness and disease that they would otherwise overcome.

So it can be said that suicide is an act of loser who fails is the race of life and prefer to die to get rid of that. (Menninger, 1938)

Sociologist Emile Durkheim focused his studies on trying to figure out what makes people commit to this life ending choice and what factors in their lives may have given them the final push. Durkheim thought that economical, religious, marital and militarily factors would influence his findings. After his study he concluded that there are four different types of suicide.

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1. Egoistic suicide: When a persons’ degree of social integration is low, then this type of suicide is occurred. The person is not well supported in social groups and feels like they are an outsider in everywhere and feel lonesome. The only people they have in this world are themselves. They often feel very isolated and helpless during times of stress. (Durkheim, 1951)

2. Altuistic suicide: This type of suicide occurs when the degree of social integration is too high. When a person commits this type of suicide they are greatly involved in a group. All that they care about are that group norms and goals and they completely neglect their own needs and goals. They take their lives for a cause. A good example of this would be a suicide bomber. (Durkheim, 1951)

3. Anomic Suicide: This kind of suicide is related to too low of a degree of regulation. This type of suicide is committed during times of great stress or change. Without regulation, a person cannot set reachable goals and in turn people get extremely frustrated. Life is too much for them to handle and it becomes meaningless to them. An example of this is when the market crashes or spikes. (Durkheim, 1951)

4. Fatalistic suicide: People commit this suicide when their lives are kept under tight regulation. They often live their lives under extreme rules and high expectations. These types of people are left feeling like they’ve lost their sense of self. (Durkheim, 1951)

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Suicide Helpline in Bangladesh: Suicide helpline exist in over 40 nations in the world currently and play an important role in suicide prevention and the promotion of mental health. But in Bangladesh for the first time a young girl “Yeshim Iqbal” who started this suicide helpline called “Kaan Pete Roi” which is a non profit organization in Bangladesh started in 28th April, 2013.Yeshim Iqbal, a graduate of Psychology from Cornell University

and currently a doctoral student at New York

University; who had previously worked for similar help lines abroad.

There are several numbers of contacting “Kaan Pete Roi” and also have an website which is www.shuni.org. Initially they worked weekly 3 days for 3pm-9pm. But now extended for five days a week and their timing is Monday-Sunday (3pm-9pm) and Thursday (3pm-3am).

The mission of “Kaan Pete Roi” is to alleviate feelings of despair, isolation, distress, and suicidal intent among members of our community. Currently they have 40 volunteers working. They follow “Befriending” model. The same model is followed in other 40 countries of the world to give mental treatment. All the networks are controlled by a network named “Befrienders Worldwide”- which is a charity that helps people worldwide who are tempted to suicide or despair. Their mission is- to be a principal resource in emotional support and to share research which can lead to innovative service practices, delivered by volunteers & vision is- to contribute to a society where suicide is understood both locally and globally, leading to fewer deaths by suicide. Bangladesh is one of the youngest member of this network. After fulfilling three years of establishment in Bangladesh, “Kaan Pete Roi” published that ever since the opening their centre has taken more than 10,000 calls!

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Findings The data I have collected for my research has not matched my hypothesis. From the primary research, I’ve got to know that family dispute and depression has been a major issue of increasing suicide in Bangladesh and unexpectedly people are aware about it. But people are confused that- if suicide is completely preventable or not; but they are hopeful. Most of them think suicide is not predictable which is wrong; suicide is predictable but government and society have to work together in that case. And people have no idea about current suicide rate of Bangladesh, which I didn’t have either before doing this research.

From my secondary research, what I found is- about 28 people commit suicide each day in Bangladesh, mostly young females between 15 to 29 years. The major reasons behind increasing suicide in Bangladesh are depression, disputes of family, stalking, relationship, social disgrace etc. More than 10,000 people die of suicide every year alone in Bangladesh & it has scored 10th position among high suicide prone countries. The number of suicide incidents has grown over the last four years. Not only people but I think neither do government has any idea about this. Because I can’t see any preventive measures has taken yet to control the rise of suicide incidents.

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Limitations Although I have put a lot of effort to carry out the research in a way that produces the expected outcome, admittedly I have faced some challenges. They include: 

Lack of sufficient time: While carrying out a research, time is one of the most important factors. It is time that determines what the research methodology is going to be. During our three-month-semester, we have several exams, quizzes, assignments, and so many other things. As a result, I could not go as in depth of this research as I wanted.



Length of research: Since suicide is a vast topic to cover, it was not possible to gather all the information because of the length of the project. As a result, some areas of the topic were ignored and some information which deserved broad discussion was summarized.



Lack of Primary data: As I wanted to have several interviews on suicide, which unfortunately I couldn’t have because it’s a very sensitive issue for people in Bangladesh. Even if anybody did any suicide attempt among their known people, they are not agreed to share information about it.

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Recommendation A suicidal person does not always want help from outside world, but that doesn’t mean he/she shouldn’t be helped. So here are the recommendations for the suicidal person and others.

Get professional help- We can help a suicidal person by encouraging him to see the brighter side of life. And also suicide prone person can call for the suicide helpline in Bangladesh. Help him/her to locate and consult a mental health professional and get the proper treatment he/she needed.

Follow-up on treatment - If the mental health professional provides any sort of medication, then make sure the suicidal person are taking it as per direction. Sometimes the medications take time to impact on patient body, so by that time the suicidal person may seem to become worse. So our responsibility is to take care of it and notify the physician about it. It’s often seen that it takes time to find the right medication for the right person at the right time.

Be optimistic- There’s good and bad in every life exists in this world. But we have to make ourselves strong to survive till death comes to us. A suicidal person needs to know that a survivor is the winner in the end and suicide can’t be the only solution of every problem. So we need to encourage them to see the positive sides of life and accepting the negative sides.

Encourage positive lifestyle changes-We can encourage the suicidal person to live a healthy lifestyle like- a healthy diet, plenty of sleep, getting out in the sun for morning and evening walk or exercise etc. It will help the person to get relief from depression, stress etc. Going for

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traveling around the world can also help a person to see the beauty of nature and make him/her realize that life is worth to live no matter what.

Improve family bonding- As it has been seen through the research that, less family bonding is a growing issue in Bangladesh. So our society needs to be aware and give proper attention on how to improve family bonding. Elder family persons need to be careful about their relationship with children and each other. Relationship should be handled carefully in a way which never makes someone think of suicide in life.

Make a safety plan- Because of safety measure, we can replace or remove potential means of suicide like- pills, knives, firearms, rope etc from the suicidal persons’ house. If the person has any chance to have an overdose of the medication he/she is supposed to take for his/her mental treatment, then locked away or provide only when the person should take it. Also keep his/her therapists contact information as well as family and friends’ who can help in an emergency.

Continue the support- Even after passing through a suicide attempt, check on the person periodically. Because the support has some crucial influence for the suicidal person. They need to know they are not alone, they can be helped and they are loved. So we need to stand by them till the time they are mentally stable and emotionally settled.

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Conclusion Suicide often is a traumatizing event for the close relatives and the friends of the victims. In Bangladesh, suicide causes family stigma as it casts questions over family dynamics and social status within society. This also highlights the importance of publishing information about suicide as accurately and sensitively as possible, as families can be socially and negatively affected by another tragedy because of a suicide within the family. In developing countries where in every year, poverty and different health problems cause thousands of death, it is quite predictable that suicide incident receives less attention. Suicides are not considered even a problem in most developing countries. For instance, in Bangladesh, people are effacing multitude of problems and threats in all spheres of their lives. Economic and political instability, population explosion, unemployment, social crime, corruption and natural calamities have burdened our daily life and social as well. Drugs addiction, sexual abuse and other forms of social crimes are distributed countrywide. Therefore, it is generally thought that suicide is less important event to focus on. But, Bangladesh is running in same rhythm with the world in the topic of suicide. So, government needs to come up with proper planning and prevention of suicide to reduce its substantiality and society needs to be aware about their duties to prevent suicide as much as possible.

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References 

Dickinson, Michael, R. L., & George, E. (2010, September 2). Understanding dying, death, and bereavement (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. p. 290.

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Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology. New York: The Free Press.

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Grohol, J. (2009). Common Signs of Someone Who May be Suicidal. Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2007/10/08/common-signsof-someone-who-may-be-suicidal/

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Hendin, H. (2012). Suicide and suicide prevention in Asia. WHO.

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Maris, Ronald (2000). Comprehensive textbook of suicidology. New York: Guilford Press. pp. 97–103.

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Menninger, K.A.(1938). Man against himself. The University of Michigan: Harcourt Brace and Company.

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Rahman, J., & Hossain. A.(Eds.) (2015, September 11). Suicide on the rise in Bangladesh: WHO. Daily Sun. Baridhara, Dhaka: East West Media Group.

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Staff Correspondent. (2015, September 9). Suicides rising in Bangladesh. Daily star. Retrieved from http://www.thedailystar.net/country/suicide-incidents-increasedbangladesh-140311

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Uzzal, M. (2014, September 10). 28 people commit suicide everyday. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from http://archive.dhakatribune.com/crime/2014/sep/10/28-peoplecommit-suicide-everyday#sthash.kNfysZIH.dpuf

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APPENDIX

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