Summary IASP observes the day in collaboration with World Health Organization.
(APP) - International Suicide Prevention Day is being observed in the country and all over the world today (Tuesday).
The experts believe efforts at government level with the involvement of the community can help bring isolated souls back to normal life activities for prevention of suicide.
The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) observes the day in collaboration with World Health Organization on September 10 every year and 450 activities were held on Sept 10 last year in 74 listed countries, according to IASP website.
In addition to activities in member countries, 27th IASP World Congress would be held in Oslo, Norway, from Sept 24 to 28, and the main theme would be ‘Preventing Suicidal Behaviour on Five Continents - Innovative Treatments and Interventions”.
Dr Naeemullah Leghari, head of Nashtar Hospital’s Psychiatry Ward, told APP that suicide could be divided into two categories, impulsive suicide and planned suicide.
“One can do little to prevent impulsive suicide but there is room for plans and strategies that the government and the community can execute to prevent planned suicide,” he added.
“Family, relatives and community members should be alert to any sudden change in the behaviour of their friend or relative. There should be awareness among all that if any person starts transferring property or accounts to children, seeks forgiveness from people, expresses pessimistic ideas about himself, shows sudden attachment to religion in sharp contrast to the past practice, then they should immediately be engaged and treated compassionately and referred to a psychiatrist, Dr. Naeem said.
When asked that people usually transfer property to children in case of no hope of recovery from disease, the doctor said that patients suffering from chronic diseases had the suicide tendency five percent more than others.
He said that tranquilliser and pesticide were mostly used in suicide and their sale should be governed by some tighter regulations.
He said 90 percent of people who commit suicide by planning tell it to someone or at least leave a hint to a friend, an elder, or some community leader they respect the most before suicide. The lonely souls need compassionate response and if somebody finds someone under stress with no hope in the mind, the person could be a perfect case for clinical treatment by a psychiatrist for prevention of possible suicide tendencies, he added.
