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Hike seen in suicide rate among Kuwaitis, expats ‘Mental, spiritual weakness main impetus for suicides’

KUWAIT CITY, April 18: Why has the rate of suicide increased in the country? What pushes a Kuwaiti to commit suicide despite the luxury life he or she might have? What is the role of the family and school in protecting the young generation from psychological complexities that lead them to committing suicide? Psychological and religious experts have been asked these questions by several citizens for understanding the reasons behind this unfortunate phenomenon that is occurring in the country.

Umm Hamad narrated a story about one of her relatives who committed suicide ten years ago. He underwent psychological treatment since he was young, but his condition later led him into the world of drugs. When his parents found out about his drug addiction, they refused to give him his daily pocket money, fearing that he would use it to buy drugs; however, this led him to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, Esra, a student, indicated that mental and spiritual weakness is the main reason behind the urge to commit suicide, as people tend to choose this option when faced with hardship or emotional failure. She explained that suicide rate among men is higher than among women and the main reason behind this could be the pressures of the responsibilities that men generally have to bear in life.

Furthermore, a lecturer in psychology Dr Khader Al-Baroun indicated that expatriates are not the only ones who commit suicide in the country but even citizens, who lack strong will to live due to failure in aspects such as employment, academic and even emotional, choose to commit suicide. He stressed that some people are unable to bear tough living conditions and they assume that suicide is their way out of all their troubles.

Dr Al-Baron pointed out some indications that can be detected in people who are likely to commit suicide. He explained that such indications are continuous gloominess, and frequent mentioning of hints to loved ones about lack of strong will to live such as how they hate life or wishing life farewell, etc. He went on to explain that some people do not value the luxuries of life because of the continuous failure they encounter in certain aspects of life.

He indicated that there is a significantly high suicide rate among rich and wealthy people in the world, adding that people who suffer from psychological problems every time they face difficulties usually experience heightened urge to commit suicide, despite their luxurious lifestyles.

An Islamic cleric Sheikh Yahya Abdul Salaam attributed the increase of suicide phenomenon to weak spiritual restraint, stressing that people with adequate level of spiritual faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment would not commit suicide. “It is imperative for families and schools to instill proper religious teachings and faith in students to protect them from adopt principles that contradict the Islamic faith.

They must facilitate a balanced environment that would help in reinforcing the religious teachings in students”, he said. Sources explained that the official statistics in Kuwait indicate an increase in the rate of suicide cases and suicide attempt cases in past few years. In 2007, 107 cases of suicide and attempted suicide were recorded while 110 such cases were recorded in 2008. The number of suicide and suicide attempt cases were 96 in 2010, 106 in 2011 and 131 in 2012.

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