Is suicide a matter of honour or desperation?

You can understand when someone lives on the edge? Imagine being an elderly, alone and retired.

It’s not easy, but it is normal since nowadays there are many seniors who often live alone all over the world.
Often, some have a good retirement and have the money to pay for a residential clinic where they can be well accommodated and at peace, living with others of the same age with the same purpose.

In South Korea the elderly seemed to deal with this phase of life but time has changed. Oriental customs of old meant that the younger generation would take care of their parents in their latter years, but it has not happened anymore. Unfortunately this has created a high suicide rate in South Korea.

Social exclusion and loneliness are factors that lead to depression and hence suicide. A curious and sad point is that taking your own life can be seen as a noble and common act in oriental culture. This is displayed often in Japanese and South Korean traditions. This dates back to the “kamikase” pilots, patriots who are killed for their country. Or the samurai who committed seppuku.

Seppuku is a tragic ceremony held in front of spectators. The samurai kneels, showing the sword, and introduces it into his own abdomen. There are two representations of this ritual. The honour of the samurai and his strong determination means that he would rather take his own life than surrender to the enemy, showing that the warrior had fought bravely and deserves an honourable death. It could also be seen as committing a dishonourable crime, where the person in question will have to bear responsibility for his own death and will not be decorated.

Delving deeper into this culture is exciting and interesting, and you find that religion is a major influence. Some religions, such as Buddhism and Shintoism, do not consider suicide a sin. Yet this is directly opposed to the views of Christian religions, which does take kindly to such acts.

In the aforementioned religions suicide is an act of courage, expressing pride, rigorous self-denial and lucidity. Now the story has changed a bit. Studies claim that many oriental elderly are killed for being alone, depressed, hopeless. They commit suicide due to family pressure also. In Japan the family can receive a considerable amount in life insurance if the death is suicide related.

It’s not just the elderly who make up these studies. Young adults between 20-40 years of age, are part of these statistics also due to financial problems. The numbers began to grow after the Asian financial crisis of 1998 and increased again after the global crisis of 2008.

The oriental society is too rigid. From early oriental children are shaped in order to enter into this society. However, the sum of frustration by financial problems, job instability and culture, lead many young people to kill themselves for not knowing how to express anger.

Some companies in South Korea adopt unusual techniques to discourage suicide by simulating their employees own funeral. Employees wear white robes, as tradition dictates, write a farewell letter to family members and lay in a coffin embracing the photo itself. This whole scenario plays out amidst a sea of recorded cries to make it real. It’s an interesting tactic. These companies believe that this causes the employee to reflect, helping them to appreciate and enjoy life.

http://www.dailynewsservice.co.uk/author/carolina-farani/