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In
recent times in West Belfast there have been several
instances, in as many weeks, of suicides - 'the act
of killing oneself intentionally'. I have read and
listened to a number of persons' reasonings to this
situation and as to why they believe that in West
and indeed North Belfast the suicide rate is twice
that of elsewhere in the North. One of the more interesting
aspects of conversation was the attempted parallels
by some of the possible similarity between that of
suicides and that of euthanasia - 'the act of killing
someone painlessly'. This was in part to attempt to
reopen the debate in relation to recent events in
various European Nation's parliaments as well as trying
to attempt to direct the matter towards the comparison
of both suicide and euthanasia for a particular interest.
One should understand though that suicide is not a
question of the right to die - but in many cases in
fact is both an unanswered and unacknowledged fundamental
question in relation to the right to live.
My
reasoning for this is that increasingly in many cases
a pattern emerges in relation to those who commit
the act of suicide, many are young, many are male,
some have psychological problems, others believe that
material and society based problems are too much to
take while others still have past or present experiences
that they believe offers only one alternative. It
is though of no coincidence that the areas affected
most by these situations, with two fold rates of suicide,
are those who borne the brunt of the conflict and
who continue in many cases to do so through this process
of post-conflict resolution. That is not to say that
other areas of wider society do not suffer in relation
to this, as this grief has visited families of many
through out the North. The pattern though and the
increasing numbers within these areas do suggest a
reasoning for this and I would place it in the context
of the present structure of society, the financial
base (or lack of) provided and afforded to those communities
and the perceived emotional cloak placed on young
men, to be men, especially within those areas.
These
communities hold the highest levels of unemployment,
of poverty induced social exclusion, of social and
economic deprivation, of generational educational
instability; of having to face the situation from
conflict to a post-conflict situation and with it,
all that that delivers. This not only in mindset but
also practically, such as not being allowed a job
because of a conflict related conviction or previously
'once involved' attempting to adapt to community or
relationship change due to the new political circumstances.
On top of this such communities still face
interface violence and continual sectarianism while
also facing an increase of community based instabilities
due to both external and internal factors. While all
this affects the community as a whole there is a very
limited financed structural base within those communities.
This lack of funding and limited resources does little
to help those who need it and while both men and women
are affected, young men on many occasions do tend
to hide their feelings and withdraw into themselves
more so than women. Such a situation then develops
through continual economic and social alienation felt
within the individual which can trigger and cause
psychological effect. Other reasons are also suggested
for the fact of an increase in, and the pattern of
suicides but practically, with little funds to provide
support to those that want it, and as importantly
with virtually none provided to reach out to those
that need it, this situation will continue.
So
this continual peace process has delivered for some
a decent living, for others a chance to make a living,
but for many in such areas little change, while for
some a life believed not worth living.
Suicide
is only one aspect of many problems to be faced within
our society and like so many other such issues that
affect many of our peoples and communities it needs
to be challenged ultimately at its root causes. We
need initially to provide the proper resources and
facilities not only to provide support but also to
provide hope for people to look forward to some kind
of decent life. Many of our people especially within
such communities need to believe that they can achieve
a future in which they can have a decent life, rather
than looking to that like many of their parents, of
constant struggle and at times merely existing, so
believing only to see their children's opportunities
providing the same.
If
there is to be a process it should be a process of
continual equality of opportunity, provision for the
needy, facilities for the vulnerable, funding and
resources for those communities most at need. It should
not be a process of the cutting of funding, the closing
of facilities or the axing of resources. It should
be initially a process of attempting continual economic,
political and social equality, based on the needs
of the needy and not the greedy, a process that includes
not excludes, a process that supports not rejects,
a process that provides hope and justice for all,
and not a process of isolation and alienation but
of collectivity and for community integration.
Those
who, and in many cases violently decide to end their
lives do so for particular reasons, which is due in
many cases to the internal and external workings of
our society, its make up, its relationships and its
structures. They leave behind many relatives who ask
why? or what if? - so then leaving in many cases lifelong
emotional turmoil behind for others. I believe society
can be judged on how it treats it most vulnerable
and therefore I believe that such increases and concentration
of suicides in various communities are a reflection
of society's priorities (or not) as a whole. Isn't
it time that those who presently hold the strings
begin to attempt to effect change on this developing
situation and initially provide the material resources
and finances to help deal with the situation. In the
long term we need to start questioning the issues
of the root causes that give such instances rise,
which in many cases is developed through individual
isolation and alienation from peoples, community and
wider society. To begin to deal with this we first
need to have an understanding and a collective will
to challenge the progressing status quo and attempt
to deliver a situation where attitudes to, and such
reasoning for suicide are decreased by the collective
actions taken to tackle the problem.
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