HYDERABAD: January is yet to end, rosy predictions of the New Year are still fresh. But somewhere, in the midst of guffaws and glimmer, somebody is suffering. Suffering from depression, suicidal tendencies, is in urgent need of help. A few days ago social media world ruthlessly watched the live streaming of a 12-year-old girl’s suicide in Polk County, Georgia. The little girl was Katelyn Nichole Davis, who hanged herself from a tree.
The shock is still fresh but it’s debatable if it is still there in the minds of those who shared the news on their timelines – back home recent student suicides in the city have made psychotherapists wonder if it is the fast rising urban melancholia which quickly culminates in suicide. Or does an overdose of technology combined with apathy trigger suicidal tendencies?
Recently, we all saw the much-shared post: ‘My door is always open…’ followed by #SuicideAwareness and moved on to the next happening hashtag. Does it mean #SuicidePrevention, #nevergiveup, #positivepsychology, are just trending hashtags for netizens where they post a quick RIP message and move to another page? Does it mean people have become insensitive? Or are they tired of too much of bad news?
Rising insensitivity
According to records in 2016, Facebook had 1.79 billion monthly active users and 42 million pages and 9 million apps and websites integrated with it which easily summarises why people get an overdose of notifications and within seconds move to a different page or window hardly remembering what they saw or read. Mostly, the webpages vying with each other for clicks upload sensational content that range from gory to cruel.
The recent live suicide video posted by Katelyn was shared by millions in a maniac way. Were people really concerned or was it just the trigger of reshare to generate traffic to their timelines? Where was the actual sympathy for a young child who killed herself? Explains city-based psychiatrist Dr Prabhakar Korada, “There’s so much on social media that you are forced to see unnecessary content you’d otherwise not be interested in. Seeing violent videos, people, who are already dealing with the pressures of modern life, get disturbed. They don’t want to remember the horror and quickly move on to happier pages.” This quick moving on, warns Dr Korada, can lead to real insensitivity. At the same time repetitive coverage of suicides/deaths or live videos can glorify deadly acts which are imitated by several who think their lives are worthless, find excitement in self-violence and to seek some indelible glory in death they kill themselves.
Glorification of self-killing
In 1962 when Hollywood’s dazzling star Marilyn Monroe killed herself at the young age of 36, there was a sharp rise in suicides in USA by 12 per cent. The sale of the newspapers had doubled. A mass hysteria swept the country. “Media had gone berserk reporting the death news. She was a star, and the competition for unique side of the story sent the publications into a frenzy; the front pages were splashed with her iconic pictures juxtaposed with her tragic death. People identified themselves with the diva and killed themselves seeking a vain sense of immortality,” elaborates Dr Korada. That’s why in countries like Austria, Australia and Switzerland there are strict guidelines while reporting suicides or deaths of renowned figures. Unfortunately. In India there are no such guidelines.
Copy cat suicides
The mass hysteria we talked about above isn’t new. It has been there for a long time. Way back in the year 1774, when famous German author Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe published the autobiographical novel ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’, a series of suicides were reported by youngsters, who were unsuccessful in love. His craft was so impressionable that many found death to be the ultimate sanctuary. After so many years, what Goethe left behind has been fuelled by social media with hundreds of likes and several shares. Unfortunately, this doesn’t result in any sort of emotional empathy as the same is other piece of news.
People switch off their phones/laptops and forget about it.
The ringing alarms
It’s not just online apathy that is rising, the same is seeping in people’s private lives as well. Sample this: Jasmine texts her boyfriend from abroad in the middle of the night that she’s in danger. The blue ticks at the WhatsApp messages confirm that he’s seen them. She calls.
No replies come. Two days later his curt message appears: ‘Why do you keep reaching out to me again and again?’ Senior volunteer Shanti at Roshni Counselling Centre tries to explain this insensitivity, “Being on social media has become a routine for many. The sap of emotions is drying up. The signs of depression are there, but unfortunately people especially the loved ones miss them.” Some go ahead post their stories online expecting someone will reach out. Some do, some don’t. At the same time, there are many online forums and helplines claiming to
offer a lending hand.
“The forums give you immediate help. But don’t provide any emotional connect. One needs to reach out to real people, talk, accept that what one is going through is a phase and will pass,” she adds and stresses that it’s important to talk to a professional counsellor if the depression persists.
Help at hand
There are counselling centres where one can just pour one’s heart out in strict confidentiality. The counsellors help you learn deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, mirror therapy and more.