Running Head: OBLIGATIONS TO SUICIDE 1

Obligations To Those Contemplating Suicide

Macy Grannes

Dallas Center- Grimes High School

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What obligations does society owe to someone contemplating suicide? Does society

even need to help those contemplating suicide? Furthermore, should society try to save those

who are thinking about it, or should it just let people commit suicide which, in turn, could help

population control? The answers to these questions would be based on ones personal opinion.

It is ethically wrong to not help a person contemplating suicide. Society should teach a few

lessons in schools and business places to be able to help those contemplating suicide: knowing

what signs to look for, asking a person directly, validate the experience, encourage treatment and

expedite getting help. The initials S.A.V.E. can help remember this. (Aldous, 2015).

Suicide is one of the 3 main leading causes of death in people of ages 15 to 44. (Aldous,

2015). According to Health Canada statistics, Suicide has accounted for 42% of deaths between

the ages of 15 and 24. Suicide is mainly a response to psychological pain and can come from

many things. A few examples could be divorced parents, bullying, abuse, and even just a lot of

stress from daily lives. There are not enough effective preventative solutions to assist suicidal

people. There are more articles and research about disorders with lower rates of people dying

then there is about suicide. Despite what most people think, suicide is a big problem. (Saigle,

2017) The next question, though, is it ethically or morally right to do research on a dead person

to try and figure out what could have gone wrong? Arguments for could be that it might help

figure out why they committed suicide.

It is ethically wrong to not know what signs to look for in someone who is considering

suicide. However, it is not always easy to figure out. Sometimes the question just has to be

asked if they are or not. There are certain statements to listen for such as: I cant go on.; I am

just a burden to everyone.; The world will go on without me. Statements like these, are a cry

for help. There is always a small part of them that wants to live and it comes out in cries for
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help. Some other signs are withdrawing from others, giving away their possessions, or engaging

in dangerous activities. "The bottom line is we need to get intervention before it reaches the

critical level and spirals out of control and the person is not thinking clearly and may be armed,"

Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau says. (Aldous, 2015, par. 29)

If a person is starting to show signs, the next ethical step is to ask them directly about it.

This is the time where they will need a person who will just listen to them and be able to give

some advice or help them. Asking a person if they are going to commit suicide, is giving them a

safe outlet for them to talk about their feelings and why they feel the way they do.

The next ethically right thing to do is to validate the experience. Going into problem

solving mode right after they say they are suicidal, is not the right thing to do. Let them talk

about how they feel and get to the root of the problem. Not all people are actually planning to

kill themselves, they just want attention and they need help getting through life. Life is not

always the easiest thing to go through. Sometimes just having a person to talk too can do

wonders. They may talk about their guilt, shame, denial, and many other difficult emotions that

are hard to handle all together, especially by themselves.

If the first 3 steps have gone according to plan, the next thing to do is to encourage them

to get help and treatment. A normal person/friend can only help so much. Counselors,

psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists are trained to help those people that are going through

hard times and help them through their challenges in life. Since suicidal people are often

depressed, don't assume they will make phone calls themselves or follow up on treatment. Help

them take those steps or find someone else to help. (Aldous, 2015)

In my personal opinion, I think society has the responsibility to help those thinking of

suicide, however, little about it. There are some websites and phone numbers that you can go to
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or call if you are in need, but that is not always enough. They need to start going over it in

schools. A book I recently read was about a girl who committed suicide because of all the

bullying she was receiving and the hate she felt from everyone. I agree that stress from school

and being bullied is not fun and can be very damaging to a persons life. I can say from personal

experience that bullying hurts a lot. I was called many, nasty things because I was judged based

on my looks rather then my personality. I admit, that I have thought about suicide a few times,

but never enough to actually go through with it. My friends helped me through some tough

times, which is what most people need.

According to Elaine Greidanus and Robin D. Everall, there are a lot of internet-based

communications sites that can help youth seeking help. These online groups are your traditional

support groups except they are not face-to-face. In these groups, they share personal

experiences, provide helpful information, and offer emotional support. Elaine and Robin also

state that help seeking sites have increased the youths help seeking in general. It helps them to

be able to share their thoughts without the public interaction which can be good for some people.

However, others need that face-to-face interaction to help them along.

So what more can society do to help prevent more suicides from happening? As it was

noted earlier, teach it in schools. Schools can teach the warning signs and ways that you could

help. They could also give out websites you can go to and numbers to call if they need it. There

should be counselors at every school, however, some dont have enough to support the number

of kids in the school. It is hard to find good counselors, however, a good, sincere listening ear

will do. Schools should also do more about bullying. It is rarely talked about in high school or

even middle school when most kids have become victims. Bullying also needs to be treated like

any other crime. It can damage a persons life and emotions. The victims will always think that
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everything is their fault and they will start to believe what everyone says. Schools should put

more rules and consequences in place for breaking rules gainst bullying.

Students have a hard enough time in school, with homework and other classes. If

bullying is added into that equation, their mental health goes down. That mental health going

down, means that their grades could plummet too. That is why they need to have more

prevention policies and rules against bullying in schools. Schools rarely focus on those kinds of

problems and mainly focus on the physical ones which needs to change.

The great injurious invention of Social Media has only made things worse for students.

Not only do the they get bullied in public, they also are bullied online or cyberbullying occurs,

as most schools like to call it. The issue gets even worse because it is even harder to escape

cyberbullying because it is literally everywhere. If something is posted online, it stays there

forever. It is public knowledge and everyone will be able to see it. Before one posts online, they

should really think about what consequences could come from what they post. Even the littlest

things can be blown out of proportion.

Suicide is a bigger issue than it has ever been. Every person in the universe needs

society's help in finding ways to prevent suicide from occurring. It will not go away, by all

means, but the number of suicides could be reduced. It is ethically wrong not to help someone if

they are contemplating suicide. There are multiple ways laid out in this paper that can help even

just a smidgen, in the ongoing problem of death by suicide.

Reference Page

Aldous, V. (2015, July 26). Save a life: How to help someone who's contemplating suicide. Mail

Tribune (Medford, OR).

Greidanus, E., & Everall, R. D. (2010). Helper therapy in an online suicide prevention
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community. British Journal Of Guidance & Counselling, 38(2), 191-204.

doi:10.1080/03069881003600991

SAIGLE, V., SGUIN, M., & RACINE, E. (2017). Identifying Gaps in Suicide Research: A

Scoping Review of Ethical Challenges and Proposed Recommendations. (cover story).

IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 39(1), 1.