Suicide cases become a trending topic recently, such as the suicide case of vocalist of Linkin Park band, Chester Bennington, that has attracted attention from many people in the world.
The rise of suicide needs to be our common concern so it would not get wider. Data of World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012 noted there are 800,000 people committing suicide every year in various parts of the world. The highest number of cases occurs in South Korea with 36.8 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, Indonesia is in the 114th position with 3.7 per 100,000 people.
UGM Mental Health Expert, Dr. dr. Carla Raymondalexas Marchira, Sp.KJ (K.) said suicide is influenced by many factors. One of them is cultural aspects such as family culture, culture distortion, culture transition, as well as socio-economic factor. In addition, it is influenced by genetic aspect which exists inside someone who has suicide carrier gene.
“Psychology-psychiatry aspect also has a high influence, such as depression and schizophrenia, and personality can also trigger suicide,” said Carla during the Talk show entitled Suicide Phenomenon: Psychiatry and Psychology Aspects at Faculty of Medicine UGM on Tuesday (22/8).
Carla said the community can participate in the prevention of suicide by identifying signs, risk factors, and someone who is potential to commit suicide. The suicide risk factors include being unemployed, divorced, bullied, having multiple conflicts, sexually abused, having a history of mutilation, and having a history of depressive parents. The signs of someone who will commit suicide are often crying, feeling sad, anxious, sensitive, confused, and religious fanatism.
“Suicide is a quite complex combination,” she added.
Various prevention efforts can be done in order to minimize the suicide cases. Primary prevention is done to prevent a person from committing suicide before the intention emerges by taking the risk factors into account. The secondary prevention is done through early detection and appropriate therapy for the people who have attempted suicide.
“For example, we can prevent suicide by getting rid of the tools that are usually used for committing suicide. Moreover, we can perform a total monitoring, while tertiary prevention is done to prevent recurrence of suicide process,” said Clara.
On the other hand, Clinical Psychology Expert, Dra. Sumarni, M.Kes. said the prevention of suicide or suicidal intention can be done by strengthening personal immunity considering one of the factors of attempting suicide comes from individual fearlessness to commit suicide.
Sumarmi emphasized the importance of building family bond, particularly between mother and her child who is 0 until 18 years old. This is essential to do because if peace is created since the beginning of life, the child will not be susceptible to mental disorders.
“Healthy mentality will lead to a good and optimistic life, while the unhealthy one will lead to a sad life which can trigger suicide,” said Sumarmi.