Suicide In Malaysia Essay

Is there a common, agreed-upon definition of suicide? Throughout history, the word has had a variety of meanings, from the French Academy’s official definition in 1762 as “the murder of oneself” (Soubrier, 1993, p.35), to suicidologist Edwin Shneidman who wrote “suicide is a conscious act of self-inflicted cessation” (Shneidman, 1985, p.206). In such a way, suicide can be defined as the intentioned and destructive action to one’s interests or welfare by killing himself or herself, or of multiple people doing so (Barrett, 2010; Firestone, 1997). Suicide is a dramatic word that can change the way people view things in life. It is like a mystery that could happen to young, old, rich, and poor. In Malaysia, suicide rates are on the alarming state. It is a very serious problem and has been labeled as a growing epidemic by many health professionals in Malaysia (Tam et al., 2011). According to the National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM) 2011, there was an average of 60 suicide cases per month, which means 2 suicides daily (Lum, 2013). Moreover, according to the report of a local newspaper in Malaysia, Nanyang Siang Pao (2010), there was 445 suicidal cases (347 males and 98 females) reported for the first eight months of 2010 as compared to 290 cases in 2008. Additionally, the suicide rates for those of 20-29 years old (108 cases) was significantly higher compared with other age groups (Nanyang Siang Pao, 2010). In order to minimize the suicide cases among students in Malaysia, peers play an important role by recognizing the warning signs, providing psychological support, and giving positive influences to their friends.

Clearly, there are many factors leading to the frequency of suicidal attempts among students in Malaysia. However, th...

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...oblem, peers of suicide attempter should communicate and cooperate with suicide attempter’s family, teachers, professionals such as counsellor and psychologist, or religious minister such as pastor to take preventive steps earlier. The public particularly peers, parents, and teachers, need to be educated on how to recognize suicidal signs and offer emotional support. Furthermore, the authorities should impart students with life-coping skills and give attention to the mental health of students (Sinnadurai, 2014). As suicidologist Edwin Shneidman says, “Suicidal people use a particular logic, a style of thinking that can be readily seen, and there are steps we can take to stop suicide, if we know where to look” (Shneidman, 1987, p.58). Therefore in future, more analysis or research on suicidology should be done to mitigate the suicide risk among students in Malaysia.