The Origins and Prevention of Suicide

Chinese students taking a school entrance exam.

The suicide rate of an undeveloped country like the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a fraction of the rate in a developed nation like South Korea. The crucial factor behind people’s decision to end their lives is not really wealth or poverty. As Durkheim discovered, it is the extent to which the surrounding culture ascribes responsibility for failure to individuals or else maintains a faith that poor luck, or divine intervention is to blame instead.

A Tragedy, as it originated in Ancient Greece, is the story of a capable and intelligent person who happens to make a small mistake – which, however, leads to appalling consequences. The point of presenting such stories in very public ways (at Greek festivals the entire community had to attend) was to continually renew acquaintance with a hugely important idea: that one can be a likeable, even admirable person, and end up in an utterly desperate situation. Tragedy is the careful telling of how disaster can come into the lives of people like (or even a bit nicer) than us. They – and hence we – are always deserving of compassion rather than contempt.

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