Depression is often considered the main cause of committing suicide. But, depression is a very wide term and is often misconstrued. Depression is not a disease its an after effect which if persists for long, can create catastrophic consequences. Following are the 5 most common reasons which might force you to lose your senses and go for a suicidal attempt:

Inability to Face the Failure: This is counted as the most common reason for depressions which most of the time transform into fatal consequences. The majority of students committing suicide are suffering from this problem. The inability to tackle failure and move further often costs heavily, both to the student and to their families. The most common targets in these cases are sports-person or students. Such suicides can be avoided if proper care and observation is put at action.

Relationship Failure: This was counted as the most common reason for suicide in developed nations. Often the period after divorce, break ups, etc. are tagged under this. The failure of a relationship often brings loneliness and depression to the life of people. This sort of depression is very hard to heal and needs extensive love from someone close enough, especially the family members and old friends. If this loneliness prevails for longer duration, it can result in mental disorders and the patient becomes more susceptible to make suicidal attempts.

Extensive Pressure: Often parental pressure or social pressure increases so much that the victim has no choice left, but to QUIT. This is a concept which has been portrayed many a times, in movies, TV serials or in magazines. This pressure to excel in studies, married life, corporate life, etc. brings in so much pressure that the person being targeted becomes hopeless and looses faith in himself. Once, he dives into this, it becomes very hard to come out as the people who were supposed to help him, are the ones who are responsible for his condition. This helplessness and consistent pressure to outperform, forces the person to attempt suicide and end his life.

Death of a Loved One: Often the death of a close family member results in loss of mental peace and stability. There were incidences where the individuals committed suicide immediately after the death of their mother, father, wife or lover. This happens with the people who have been very close to the person who died. They attach themselves to the incidence and think that their life is useless without the one who died.

Guilt: There are people who hold themselves responsible for some incidents, like the death of their loved one, etc. They are not able to forgive themselves and persistently think of the incidence. This situation is often followed by sleepless nights and change in personality. The person suffering from this often refrains himself from talking much and stays reserved. This situation if persists, leads him to attempt suicide.

All the above stated situations can be healed and such suicides can be avoided if proper care is taken.

SUICIDE
Suicide was one of the groundbreaking books in the field of sociology . Written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim and published in 1897 it was a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time which provided an example of what the sociological monograph should look like.
He differentiated between four types of suicide:

Egoistic suicide: Egoism is a state in which the ties attaching the individual to others in the society are weak. Since the individual is only weakly integrated into the society, ending his or her own life will have little impact on the rest of the society. In other words, there are few social ties to keep the individual from taking his or her own life. This Durkheim saw as the cause of suicide among divorced men, and has been cited as the cause of rising teenage suicides by contemporary sociologists.

Anomic suicide: Anomie is a state in which there is weak social regulation between the society’s norms and the individual, most often brought on by dramatic changes in economic and/or social circumstances. This type of suicide happens when the social norms and laws governing the society do not correspond with the life goals of the individual. Since the individual does not identify with the norms of the society, suicide seems to be a way to escape them. Examples include the spike in suicide rates following the 1929 Stock Market Crash in the United States, as well as the spike following the September 11th attacks

Altruistic suicide: Altruism is a state opposite to egoism, in which the individual is extremely attached to the society and thus has no life of his or her own. Individuals who commit suicide based on altruism die because they believe that their death can bring about a benefit to the society. In other words, when an individual is too heavily integrated into the society, he or she will commit suicide regardless of his or her own hesitation if the society’s norms ask for the person’s death. Durkheim saw this as occurring in two different ways:
– Where people saw themselves as worthless or a burden upon society and would therefore commit suicide. He saw this as happening in ancient or ‘primitive’ societies, but also in highly traditionalized army regiments, such as imperial or elite guards, in contemporary society.
– Where people saw the social world as meaningless and would sacrifice themselves for a greater ideal. Durkheim saw this as happening in ‘Eastern’ religions, such as the Sati in Hinduism. Some contemporary sociologists have used this analysis to explain Kamikaze pilots and the cult of the suicide bomber.

Fatalistic suicide: Fatalism is a state opposite to anomie in which social regulation is completely instilled in the individual; there is no hope of change against the oppressive discipline of the society. The only way for the individual to be released from this state is to commit suicide. Durkheim saw this as the reason for slaves committing suicide in antiquity, but saw it as having little relevance in modern society. Contemporary sociologists have argued that modern fatalistic suicide occurs in such societies as Japan, where social mobility is so limited by social norms that individual fulfillment is impossible.

Why Do People Commit Suicide?
In response to extreme emotional pain,
and suicidal thoughts and feelings due to various brain chemistry deficiencies and/or disorders.
Prolonged life circumstances of extreme stress, emotional upset, abuse, poverty, terrible living conditions, neglect, poor health, injury, disability – especially with no apparent hope of change or improvement can and do precipitate depression and suicidal thoughts for some.
What is not commonly known is that -
Suicidal thoughts are an involuntary affliction ! We don’t choose to think them. Suicidal thoughts just enter.Under depression person is not able to understand that the decison od death is taken by a sick body and not a healthy mind.

Is Suicide A Sin?
The main problem with suicide is that it is murder. You would be murdering a person even though it would be your own self – you are still a person.
While we are depressed, we must consider that our decisions will be based on a body system that is not functioning as it should

Who Want To Commit Suicide?
The personality matters a lot.
Who cares if I live or die?
Emotional crisis: loneliness, isolation, competitiveness, work pressure and interpersonal problems.
Attempts – women, men, children & adolescents, adults, certain professionals (physician, dentist, lawyers, & psychologists).
Completed – usually men (due to the method used).

Reasons / Causal factors:
Psychosocial – loss of sense of meaning in life and/or hopelessness about future.
Egoistic suicide, Anomic suicide, Altruistic suicide, Fatalistic suicide.
Early negative experience, irrational beliefs and cognitive functioning.
Biological – reduced serotonergic functioning, genetic vulnerabilities.
Sociocultural – religious taboo, Kamikaze (Japan)

Suicidal ambivalence
Some people do not really wish to die, but instead want to communicate a dramatic message to others concerning their distress.
Their suicidal methods involve non lethal methods.
Another subset of people are who tend to leave the question of death to fate. “If I die the conflict is settled, but if I am rescued that is what is meant to be”.

Communication of suicidal intent
A Myth – that people who talk about killing themselves never actually do it; that they are simply drawing attention to themselves.
Whether direct or indirect, communication of suicidal intent usually represents a warning and a cry for help.
Failing to receive it after a suicidal threat, they go on to actual suicide.
Suicide notes
Only 15-25% left notes, usually addressed to relatives or friends.
The emotional content could be positive, negative, neutral, or mixed.

A suicide note – “I just need it to be over. I’ve tried to be good and go on but I’m tired. I’m sorry for my children. You will be better off without a crazy-mixed-up mother. You are great kids, this is something in me. You deserve better. I can’t live without you and I know you will just get mixed-up with me. Sorry, mom”

Suicide poetry
“ I’ll draw you a picture
I’ll draw it with a twist
I’ll draw it with a razorblade
I’ll draw it on my wrist
cut your wrist and ease the pain
a minute of relief is all you’ll gain
life is so stupid
hopeless and weak
another cut on my wrist
is all that i seek ”

Prevention
Helping suicidal persons is a very precarious matter
Learn and Understand. Educate yourself about this illness. Realize that there are millions out there just like your loved one. Their feelings are their symptoms. And their life really is danger.
They really are suffering with a potentially fatal biological illness.
Tell Them
Ask Them
“Please Don’t
Kill Yourself”
Reinforce
Emotional Ties
Tell the person – Don’t do it !
TELL them often.
ASK them not to do it – PLEASE don’t.
Tell them you don’t want them to do it and that they are loved and would be badly missed

Crisis Intervention- help these people regain their ability to cope with their immediate problems.
Talking helps – tell the one to seek comfort and support in other family, friends, medical doctor, family counselor, therapist, clergy. Don’t carry it alone.
Sometimes people need to be hospitalized to keep them from attempting suicide.
As low serotonin levels are associated with it.
UNDERSTANDING HELPS letting the hope float..

HELPLINES -
Sanjeevani Society for Mental Health Premarital/ marital counselling, emotional instability/ psychological counselling. A-6, Qutub Institutional Area, Satsang Vihar Marg, New Delhi-110067. Ph: 4311918/ 4317285. Contact: V. S. Subramaniam.
Sumaitri – a crisis centre for the suicidal and despairing Depression, suicide prevention. 48, Babar Road, near Bengali Market, New Delhi-110001. Ph: 3710763.
The Samaritans Working with mentally ill, emotionally disturbed and suicidal persons, providing free treatment. Consulting and day-care rehabilitation. 1st Floor, Seva Niketan, Sir J. J. Road, Byculla, Mumbai-400008. Ph: 022-3092068
Sneha Suicide prevention centre No. 4, Avvai Shanmugham Lane, Royapettah, Chennai. Ph: 8273456

Three people share their stories of living with mental illness. The video also outlines a 5-step plan communities of faith can adopt to begin programs intended to meet the needs of people who have mental illnesses in their families.

Over 20 million adults in the U.S., many of them persons of faith, suffer from depression. The video’s true stories about the hope of recovery counter stigma induced shame, myth and misinformaton that keep up to one-half of depressed people from seeking treatment. It also highlights the role people of faith can play in ministering to he needs of depressed people.

According to some studies, depression afflicts between 6% and 12% of American high school students. Depression in childen and adolescents is easily missed unless parents, teachers, and medical personnel recognize its signs and symptoms. Without the ability to recognize these symptoms, the first inkling a parent my have of the severity of a child’s illness is the tragedy of a completed suicide. Families and professionals review symptoms and recommend appropriate actions to take when it is suspected that a child or adolescent is at risk.

Postpartum Depression typically affects women within the first 4 weeks after a delivery. Loss of appetite, crying, and general sadness are all signs to look for with postpartum depression.

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Depression and Creativity
By Wayne J. Cosshall

Summary – Being creative is supposed to be one of the greatest things
in the world. But it is my observation that there is a down side that
is often there, under the surface, depression.

(Usual warning – this article contains personal experience and is no
substitute for professional advice).

If you are a photographer or digital artist you probably think of
yourself as creative. Creativity is a great joy, being able to pull
something wonderful, beautiful or even disturbing out of stimulation
that others do not see. The classic stereotypes of creative people
include being `different’, sometimes self-centered, a bit `floaty or
not nailed down, etc. But what can also go with creativity is a
tendency to depression.

Dictionary definitions of depression define it as severe sadness and
feeling dejected. It covers a broad range from being flat or sad for
an extended period of time through to deep depression where people
can’t get out of bed, feel no enthusiasm at all for pretty much
anything and can lead to suicidal thoughts, etc.

Depression manifests itself in many ways for creative people. Beyond
the severe end, which is completely debilitating to all aspects of
their lives, it is my observation that creative people are prone to
many `low level’ forms. This can be a general sadness when the person
is not working on a creative process. I know my wife, a painter, is
generally a much happier person when she is working on a series than
when she is not. It can also work the other way around. It is
inevitable that a creative person will have creative low periods,
either where they are ready to change a form they have been doing for
some time but have not yet worked out the new approach or perhaps
they are working through technical problems. These normal problems
can become quite a heavy weight for a creative person, driving them
to deeper negative feelings than are warranted from a cool look at
the situation. So a natural flat period can lead to thoughts of
having `lost it’, of the work being no good and then the spiral has
begun.

The spiral of depression is a real phenomenon, where a small issue
becomes bigger and bigger, in the mind of the creative person. So
computer problems come to dominate your thinking, stopping you from
doing, or enjoying, anything else until it is resolved. Or a
rejection from a gallery puts you in a bad mood for a whole week,
affecting your relationships with those around you. I think you get
the idea.

Now no two creative people are alike, not only in the degree to which
they tend to get depressed but also in what triggers it. I, for
example, am badly affected by computer issues and anything that hits
on the finances, such as yet another disappointment from some
organization I am working with, such as my art and photography
teaching, when it impacts on the bottom line, dollars. These things
don’t hit my wife so hard (well she avoids the computer entirely for
art to avoid frustration . She, on the other hand, can get very
down when a technical issue, such as getting hold of the right
materials or figuring out how to use them, holds her up from
creating. This does not bother me, seeing it as a puzzle to solve
(maybe it is a guy thing .

How we behave when depressed also differs enormously. Some get very
short fused. I tend to do several things: dive for comfort food, hide
from the world (not answering emails, the phone, etc) and want to
sleep a lot. It usually doesn’t stop me getting some things done, but
my productivity is far less than when I am ok. Others shut up shop
entirely. And of course there are those who are severely hit, feeling
suicidal, or wanting to self-harm. Thankfully I do not have anyone in
my circle of creative friends and loved ones who does that.

Depression in creative types is far more common in those who have not
yet found their creative outlet. I see this in the creativity
counseling I do. Such people have all this creative energy in them
but no effective outlet. We often think of depression as a lack of
energy, but in such people the problem is too much energy and no
outlet, so it bubbles away, triggering negative thinking, self-
sabotaging behaviors thought overload, etc.

One needs not to be scared to seek professional advice. If you have a
good general practitioner you can talk to (if not, change), talk it
out with them. Go see a counselor or psychologist. In extreme cases a
psychiatrist can be a great idea. Medication can sometimes help. I’ve
taken anti-depressants once in my life, following the death of my
second wife. For about two weeks they really helped me through a
tough time and then I found I worked better off them. I then
substituted exercise (the natural endorphins you can get with heavy
exercise are a great remedy). It is, I believe, important to get to
the bottom of what is going on, especially if depression is a
recurring issue in your life. Sometimes there can be a chemical
imbalance, sometimes it is an accumulation of life experiences, a
reaction to past stress, abuse or trauma or a whole range of other
things. Even just having someone to talk to who is not emotionally
involved can be a huge benefit. Sharing with friends or family can
also be great.

Sometimes the most important thing with depression (and many other
things) is to realize that you are not alone. Various studies that
have been in the local press here in Australia mention that anywhere
from one in eight up to 30% of people will experience depression at
some time in their lives. Personally I think it is higher than that,
it is just that some people have better skills at dealing with it
internally (or denying or hiding it) and so no one else ever knows.

Beyond the knowledge that you are not alone, if you are prone to
recurrent depression, you need to find ways to live with it or fix
it. Professional advice is a key here, as they can offer strategies
or medication. Everyone will be different and so your solution may be
very different to anyone else’s. I find it useful to have several
different creative projects on the go at once, so if I am blocked in
one I still have something else to do that I can feel positive about.
Likewise I also have several non-photographic or art projects that I
can do if I need a complete break. There are also always books,
magazines and journals around so that if I just want to chill out for
awhile I can do so in a way that is uplifting rather than pulling me
down. Also being me, I have a range of spiritual practices that I
undertake, such as meditation, that greatly help me to stay positive.
Sometimes I will channel what I would call negative energy that is
building up into an art piece, exorcising it from me into the paper.
A big assist is having a partner to keep you grounded and to pull you
up when you need it.

And, of course, it can also be ok to feel blue. We are often
convinced we have to be upbeat and happy all the time. Yet sometimes
life can be a real shit. Bad things happen. Unfair things happen.
Things go wrong. People can be horrible, selfish and uncaring.
Sometimes it is, in fact, healthy to acknowledge this, feel the
feelings for a while and then move on. I know I appreciate the great
times better for occasionally knowing the not so great and rather
than brushing it away, actually feeling it. And sometimes, great art
comes out of being depressed.

Like everything to do with people, nothing is black and white. It is
rich and complex and all part of being human. Know thyself, and find
ways to work with yourself.

MY VIEWS ON IT:
It was wonderful reading this interesting article or research study. So I liked sharing it hope readers would like it too.
As Creativity means itself creating something novel, different from
the rest, an individual tends to go away the regular o normal ways
of thinking and problem solvin which the majority is involved in
everyday life.

The more recurrent and habitual it becomes to creat something
different an individual is simultaneously pushed into an isolated
world where there may also exist an urge to relate to the normal
real social world and one may feel satisfied and happy to be
creative ony if one’s work is appreciated or liked. Ironically
creativity varies between the positives and negatives of human life.

Being a social animal human beings have a need for belongingness,
affection and like being liked which is caused due to some mutual
understanding, like mindedness and association in some or the other
way, if this need is not fulfilled definitely social rejection or
neglection makes an individual experience negative emotions hence
depression.

I would conclude it this way- Being Creative is not itself a
contentment but contentment comes from the realization of the same
by feedback from others interms of appreciation or criticism and
just the understanding of the same novel thought as one realy
thought while creating it.

ONLY A CREATIVE MIND KNOWS WHAT IT CREATES!

Phew! But thats how I understood it the link between Depression and
Creativity (Being a Masters in Psychology )

Envy/ jealousy – we often tend to feel that the other person is not giving much time to pamper us and thus don’t pay attention to the other person’s need. This behavior is self – defeating in itself. Due to the jealousy we do not remember to rejoice the success and accomplishments of the partner and hence miss the time one could spend together and happiness that they could share.

Take out time – for a good relationship you are required to have your priorities clear, don’t hurry up to click. At the initial stage itself, take out time to understand each others emotions and decide on the adjustment to make by both of you.

Taking Responsibility – realize that we can minimize our unhappiness by making personal responsibility and efforts to overcome them. Life isn’t bed of roses so the best thing is not to complain over it and blame others but rather own up to your failures while growing up and learning from it.

Overcoming the obstacles – realize that the unhappiness is caused by some obstacles or gap and the only way to come out of it make a choice to overcome.

Being perfect – It is impossible for any individual to be competent in every endeavor and an individual who feels one must be is doomed to a sense of failure. Stop fretting and instead striving to beat others, simply enjoy the activity itself.

Self esteem – “…Count your night by stars not shadows; count your life by smile not tears.” Have a high self esteem; for that be aware of your good qualities and accomplishments. Don’t show anxious over concern about any problem area, instead work towards correcting them.

Self efficacy – recognize your capacity or power to produce a desired effect. You have the ability to attain any thing that you wish.

Negativism – Characterized by habitual skepticism and a disagreeable tendency to deny or oppose or resist suggestions or commands. It only makes us feel worse. What you focus on, good or bad, are based upon the choices you make.

Be reasonable – Remove the distorted perceptions. Happiness in your life is the result of your own choices. Process information in a way that serves your need. Don’t expect others to change or try to change external factors. The one that can be changed by you is your own self which would in return have an impact on your environment; and you will notice the desirable changes there by positively changing your own self.

Meaningful feelings – follow your heart to seek happiness and put some meaning in your life.

The unhappiness feeling will vanish with your high spirited self and a fulfilling relationship. Change yourself to match the situation you are in and at time change the situation to match your needs. Influencing your life is in your hand.