Causes and Psychology of Suicide in Ireland

This article analyzes the causes and psychology of suicide in Ireland, including the historical context, the role of depression and psychache, and the impact on family. It also explores Edwin Shneidman's contribution to understanding suicide. Gain insights into the social-cultural factors that contribute to suicide rates in Ireland.

Counseling and psychotherapy
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Introduction
Cases of suicide have really increased in recent years. Statistics have revealed that about
one million people die from suicide every year. It is as well important to note that in the last 45
years, suicide rates have increased by 61%. This increase in suicide rates has made suicide
become among one of the three leading causes of death among people between the ages of 15-44
years in Ireland (O'neill, Corry, McFeeters, Murphy, Bunting, 2015 p.65). There are various
causes that would make a person consider suicide. Most of the suicide cases, however, result
from a bunch of complex social-cultural factors. Such cases are usually more likely to occur
during periods of an extreme family as well as individual crisis. Some of these comprise of
aspects such as cases of unemployment, loss of loved ones, complications in sexual orientations,
honor, and problems in developing one's identity among others. Moreover, mental health
disorders have also been associated with at least 60% of suicide cases.
This write-up will provide an analysis of suicide as a social phenomenon. This will
include a reflective critique of Professors Anthony's Clare wonderful text; Masculinity in crisis.
The major emphasis of this write-up will, however, be on the psychology of suicide in Ireland.
Quite a number of aspects will be addressed in this. Some of the issues that will be addressed
comprise of; the historical context of suicide in various countries, the use of drugs and alcohol as
a cause of suicide, depression and its relation to suicide, male and female gender roles in suicide.
In addition to this, this paper will also include Edwin Shweidman's contribution to our
understanding of suicide.
Chapter 1
Suicide Ireland: Social cultural and psychological causes of suicide.
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In general, the people in Ireland tries to commit suicide for various reasons. Some of the
social-cultural and psychological causes of suicide include;
Depression
Basically, the most common reason why people commit suicide is the increased aspect of
depression in society. Some authors have argued that pervasive sense of suffering induces
depression which will cause one to escape the hopeless life by committing suicide. In Ireland,
most of the people have been facing a lot of human suffering and they are unable to bear to the
states of depression most of the times it warps the thinking of an individual thus subjecting
himself to the issue of suicide. Most of the people in Ireland don't care about their lives. This is
evident on how Edwin argued in his book that is "There's no spirit or soul. I will be dead. Get
that through your thick head. I'll be dead. And I live, in quotation marks, in my children, in my
DNA, in my books, in my reputation. It's as simple as that."(p.31). According to Shneidman,
suicidal behaviors are as result of a particular symptom of mental illness that needs to be initially
medicated. Edwin Shneidman argued that suicide is not brought about by the increased drive
towards demise but rather as a result of a needed escape from unbearable pain and stress. He
used his knowledge to help individuals understand suicide especially those who had lost their
loved ones. Before his death, he provides various characteristics that are associated with suicidal
death that serve a significant purpose in helping people understand the issues behind d suicidal
rates among people. He indicated that the common aim of having to commit suicide is to be able
to seek a particular solution to a certain problematic issue.
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Psychache
Different authors have argued that psychic pain is the major social-cultural cause of death
in most of the societies in Ireland. People are unable to bear the pain they experience in their
own life. Anthony (2010) articulates on the issue of suicide by saying that "There are many
pointless deaths, but there can never be a needless suicide." (p.66). Through suicide, people are
able to escape the Psychic pain when they are affected by a certain condition in their lives. In
addition, there are those key concepts which are associated with the issue of psychic pain. Some
of the issues related to psychic pain include; the dominance of an issue in the human body, the
health condition of an individual, the issue of love which is characterized by broken love and
also loss of respect. All these analogies tend to induce the issue of psychic pain within society.
The historical content of suicide in various cultures
Williams (2014) outlines different concepts which articulate the history content of suicide
in different cultures. The issue of suicide was clearly described by the Roman and Greek a long
time ago. The two groups had a relaxed attitude towards the issue of suicide whereby they
identified different reasons why the society experiences the issue of suicide at a higher degree.
Both Romans and Greeks indicated that suicide was allowed in the society and no one could
deter anybody from committing suicide. After a short while churches joined and they argued
differently on the issue of suicide (Williams, 2014, p.23). The church indicated that suicide was
evil and no one was supposed to kill himself. According to Williams (2014), the church
continued with the stand in the society until when the Ireland government had officially drafted
that suicide in society was unlawful incidence within the society and it should be avoided in all
ways (p.76). With this change of attitude, society realized the negativities associated with
suicide. By 1850s Ireland was in the position to avoid all means that may induce the concept of
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suicide. This led to the secularization of the society hence avoiding the traditional perspectives
which encouraged suicide whenever one was to be faced by a certain condition in his or her life.
Injection use of alcohol versus Drugs, Depression, and suicide; Demise of the old religions
Globally, alcohol versus drug use has increased with almost increasing in developing
countries. Increased consumption of alcohol and drugs in society is believed to catalyze the issue
of depression. Use of alcohol and drugs affects the health and social impacts of an individual
within society. The increased habits affect the mentality if an individual and at the end some of
the drug users end up committing suicide because they are unable to bear with the depression
impacts caused by the drug abuse. On another hand demise of old religions have been supported
whereby the religion was seriously condemning the issue of suicide in the society.
Male-female gender roles Irish society in fragmentation
The issue of gender roles here reflects on the work of Professor Anthony Clare on male
masculinity in crisis. Different books argue on how Clare has been conciliator and populist in his
work. The work of Clare describes his characters as a person is genuinely reluctant to offend.
The book starts with an admirable sentence which introduces how Clare handles the issue of
feminism in society. He says that "As I get older and perhaps wiser, I realize more and more
what I do not know" (Anthony, 2010, p.64). This sentence prepares the reader on how Clare
argues on how women are enjoying the process of political and biological emancipation. On
another side, Clare stipulates on the sexual mistrust whereby gender in society is resuming
different roles as seen in Ireland.
Anthony Clare explores the challenged state of muscularity in the post-feminist society
of gender equality in society. In his book, the author shows how the lone female parenthood is
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stigmatized since women are seen as the threat to the male status quo. "Is it surprising that male
suicides outnumber female by a factor of 3 or 4 to 1, or that the predilection of males to be
violent - once seen as a source of pride - now seems to threaten our very culture and
civilization?” (Anthony, 2010, p. 121). This is what Clare refers to as the "phallic man" in
society. Through his book, Anthony tries to explain how assertiveness, dominance and
authoritative rules are in control of the gender-"in control not only of himself but of women -
dying out?" (Anthony, 2010, p. 131). Most of the authors have argued that the issue of
stigmatization and depression within genders is caused by different social economic factors.
Anthony Clare states that "men know they need women, depend on them. But for some men,
many men (all men?), the female fulfillment of adult male dependency is shameful" (Anthony,
2010 p.154). The attractive thing at this point is that Clare prefers to deal with the sociological
implications related to masculine behavior rather than claiming on the spurious behaviors with
dogmatic pseudo knowledge as exhibited in Ireland.
Chapter 2
Effects of suicide on family
According to Sandler, Tein, Wolchik, and Ayers (2016,p.65) suicide action is quite
devastating and has various effects on the wellbeing of family members and the existing loved
ones of the kin who died as a result of suicide. This action can be severe and also far-reaching.
The suicide survivors have a difficult time healing from the trauma and moving forward. The
family members left behind usually feel extreme guilt for not having to be in the position or have
the ability to prevent suicide. They also feel a great failure because the person they loved most
committed suicide because he /she did not feel loved back and hence prompted him to commit
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the act. They also have immense feelings of anger, resentment, and confusion at the individual
who decided to take his own life.
The family member also feels high distress as a result of unresolved challenges, for example,
those issue existing among the family members in the case where an individual had
psychological illnesses. The suicide survivors also experience mental health challenges,
increased rate of depression, physical challenges and face low income. Also, the parents face
problems of anxiety and divorce after a child suicide. This can also prompt them to commit
suicide in the near future. The family members have the highest likelihood to face stigma and
empathy. When parents commit suicide the children can suffer a lot from lack of financial
resources and basic needs that their parents often provided (Sandler et al., 2016 p.123).
Countries
Bertolote and Fleischmann (2002) explained the statistics which indicated how suicide
rate has increased in countries such as Denmark. The authors also carried out research and
articulated how Ireland has the highest suicide rates for females. It is evident that western
countries both male and female rates of suicide conduct differ at a huge extent as compared to
countries from the rest of the world. According to data provided by the central statistics office
(CSO), men account for 8 in 10 suicides in Ireland instances in the year 2016, there existed 392
number of suicides across the regions.
Some of the other countries with suicide rates include;
 India
 United States of America
 Australia
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 Indonesia
Edwin Schneidman contribution to the understanding of suicide
Shneidman (1977, p.41) shows that "Each suicidal drama occurs in the mind of a unique
individual." According to Shneidman, suicide can be literally understood from the concept that
involves moving towards the complete stopping of an individual's consciousness and pain. The
cessation of consciousness is viewed to be providing the solution to an individual's challenges.
He also indicates that the existing common stimulus for a suicide individual is seeking to escape
psychological pain. As a common stressor in suicide, it is evident that it is mainly frustrated by
psychological needs. Individuals with a high level of standards and expectations in life are more
vulnerable to the ideological issues regarding suicide when the existing progress or achievement
of goals becomes frustrated. This lead to failure attributions and disappointments making them
feel unloved and worthless. According to Shneidman the common emotions in suicide is
hopelessness-helplessness and the common internal attitude available is ambivalence.
The other commonality of suicide as provide by of Edwin Shneidman indicates that the
common perceptual state in suicide rates is constriction. "At times I was a faculty psychiatrist
asked to treat troubled medical students. I found that treating a suicidal medical student who
carried the hopes and aspirations of family and school was stressful “(Shneidman, 1977, p.66).
Shneidman supports this by saying that the mind of the person is usually constricted in its
capacity to view alternatives.it only views suffering or ding and becomes quite negative. Another
commonality is that common action in suicide rates is escape. Shneidman refers to it as, "the
ultimate regression besides which running away from home, quitting a job, deserting an army or
leaving spouse, pale in comparison" (Shneidman,1977,p.73). Also, the author shows that
existing interpersonal action involves the communication of intention by indicating signs of
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distress and helpless or having rampant pleas for intervention. The final commonality indicates
that patterns existing in suicide are quite consistent with lifelong styles of coping.
Counseling in suicide
With the increased cases of suicide in recent years as mentioned above, there is a need to
develop various strategies aimed towards suicide prevention so as to reduce suicidal cases in
both Ireland and other areas across the globe. Before a person commits suicide, they are always
filled with suicidal thoughts and feelings. Some of these thoughts may comprise of feeling
unworthy and self-pity among others. Such thoughts are incredibly scary and are actually a
reason as to why people end up committing suicide in the first place (Rogers, 1995, p.54).
Various measures can be taken so as to do away with suicidal thoughts among people. One of the
most prominent measures that can be employed is considering therapy, seeking assistance from a
counselor and/or psychotherapist could be really helpful as it helps a person understand how they
feel and in that way is in a position to cope up with their feelings.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, suicide could be really catastrophic not to the person that takes
their own life but rather to the people that that are left behind. These may include some of the
close friends, relatives, close family members, children, and a spouse among others. When such
a case happens, these people are left behind with grief feeling that maybe there could be
something that they could have done to save your life. In order to avoid such cases and more
cases of grief Rogers (1995) shows that there is a need to address the issue of suicide so as to
determine some of the best ways that it can be reduced in the society. In Ireland for instance,
there have been so many cases of suicide. Moreover, as depicted by this paper, most people with
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suicidal thoughts have impaired judgments that are usually accompanied by depression. As a
result of this, such people tend to develop a vision where they feel that their choices are
somewhat confined. Such people that suicide is the only way out. In addition, a counselor plays
a key role in controlling the issue of suicide. Here a counselor will take the person through some
of the issues that they are going through and in that case that particular individual opens up
regarding some of the issues that are disturbing them (Rogers, 1995, p.154). Through having an
open conversation with a counselor and/or psychotherapy, then a person will be in a position to
find closure on some of the issues that are affecting them and therefore escaping from the threat
of suicide. It can, therefore, be concluded that suicide is a really big threat among people of
different ages. This, therefore, calls for a need to address this issue so as to determine ways of
how to reduce suicide cases not only in Ireland but also in other areas across the globe.
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References
Anthony, C. (2010). On men: Masculinity in crisis. Random House.
Bertolote, J. M., & Fleischmann, A. (2002). Suicide and psychiatric diagnosis: a worldwide
perspective. World Psychiatry, 1(3), 181.
O'Neill, S., Corry, C., McFeeters, D., Murphy, S. and Bunting, B., 2015. Suicide in Northern
Ireland. Crisis.
Rogers, C. R. (1995). Toward a more human science of the person. Journal of Humanistic
Psychology, 25(4), 7-24.
Sandler, I., Tein, J.Y., Wolchik, S. and Ayers, T.S., 2016. The effects of the family bereavement
program to reduce suicide ideation and/or attempts of parentally bereaved children six and
fifteen years later. Suicide and Life
‐Threatening Behavior, 46, pp.S32-S38.
Shneidman, E. (1977). Definition of suicide. Jason Aronson, Incorporated.
Williams, M., 2014. Cry of pain: understanding suicide and the suicidal mind. Hachette UK.
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