Picture this: You are sitting with your friends and
watching TV in the living room and all of a sudden you hear a loud thud outside
the open window. You then realise that one of your friends is
missing. Even then, the reality of the situation does
not occur to you. The reality that your friend has just taken their life. This
is what happened recently in Mumbai when 29-year-old Karan
Joseph committed suicide by jumping from a window of a 12th floor apartment in
Bandra. He was suffering from depression, unfortunately, none
of his friends knew what he was going through.
It has been noted
that a person suffering from depression can put on a calm demeanour, making it
difficult for people close to them to assess their turbulent mind. A physically healthy person with a hearty smile could be concealing a lot of pain. In most suicide
cases, the victim hardly confides in another person. Unfortunately, Goa
has a very high suicide rate, especially amongst college students.
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The Rise Nation Army Foundation has taken up the
campaign to create awareness about suicide prevention in colleges in Goa, especially
Suicide Prevention Week. The team of Varun Carvalho and Irina Moroz talk to the
students about depression. “To tackle this issue, we have developed a one-hour ‘Live
The Dream’ workshop, wherein we show the students how they can find their own
dream and purpose in life. We also show them how they can achieve their dream
in eight simple
steps. They should take control of their own lives and live purposeful lives.
We empower them with music and we play songs that help reinforce the belief in them that they can achieve
anything they want. We show them that one of the best ways of fighting depression
is to play or listen to positive music,” explains Varun.
Over the
last week, they had workshops at St Xavier’s Higher Secondary and College (Mapusa), Don Bosco
Higher Secondary and College (Panjim), GVM Teachers
College (Ponda), GVM Higher
Secondary School (Ponda), SS Dempo College (Altinho-Panjim), Dhempe College (Miramar), Rosary
College (Navelim) and Carmel College (Nuvem). They
performed songs like ‘Never give up’, ‘Feel the moment’,
‘Stand up’ and ‘I’m Gonna fly’.
COOJ Mental
Health Foundation inaugurated its Yellow Bardez Awareness Campaign on World
Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, 2017. it will be observed till October 10, 2017. “We are aware that there are
several suicides taking place in the taluka of Bardez. According to WHO
statistics, for every person who ends his life, there are
20 more persons who have attempted and survived, and around
a 100 who are thinking about it. The problem is huge and there is no formal
program in place in Bardez to tackle the issue,” says Dr Peter Castellinho,
COOJ’s founder chairman.
On
September 17, 2017, ‘Cycle for Suicide Prevention’ with Cycling Goa and Slopes
& Bends will be held. The WHO theme talk on ‘Take a Minute, Change a Life’
along with a discussion on the Way Forward for Goa will be held at the
Secretariat, Alto Porvorim on the September 27, 2017 from 2:30pm to 4pm along
with the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights in Goa. “We
encourage people who are undergoing stress to please seek help. They may call
the Listening Helpline 0832 2252525 operational from Monday to Friday 3pm -7pm
to get support,” concludes Dr Peter.
Box 1:
Warning signs to look out for, of anyone contemplating suicide:
I. Talking
about suicide, death and/or no reason to live and preparing for death by making
out a will (unexpectedly) and final arrangements
2.
Withdrawal from friends and/or social activities
3. Having a
recent severe loss (especially relationships) or threat of a significant loss
4.
Experiencing significant changes in behaviour
5. Losing
interest in hobbies, work, school etc and their personal appearance
6. Giving
away prized possessions
7. Having
attempted suicide before
8.
Increasing use of alcohol or drugs
9.
Expressing a sense of hopelessness
10. Having
a history of violence or hostility
Box 2:
If you know someone who is thinking of committing
suicide, this is what you should do:
1. Take
them seriously (Many people who have committed suicide have spoken about it at
some point or the other)
2. Don’t
leave the person alone
3. Inform
the person’s nearest family members
4. Show
them that you care
5. Make
them understand that their life is important
6. Be
understanding towards them and don’t judge
7. Keep all
harmful items away from the person
8. Try and
convince them to seek professional help
9. Keep in
constant touch with the person
10. Help
them to get their life back together
