On the afternoon of June 4, 2018, a young girl threw herself into the water tank at the Block of Rooms (BSA) at Darcy Ribeiro campus, on “Asa Norte”, in Brasilia. According to witnesses, firefighters tried to prevent her from jumping from a height of 15 meters without success. The 22-year-old was taken to the Base Hospital Institute (IHB) but died on her way to the health facility. On Facebook, the student had repeatedly expressed her desire to take her own life. One of the most recent posts had a parting tone. In the publication, the young woman wrote: “Congratulations to you who stay. Only the strong survive here. Feel victorious every day”.

It is news like this that alerts us about the importance of addressing Suicide.

Statistics have shown that suicide grows not only for demographic and population issues, but also for social problems that undermine one's well-being and stimulate self-destruction. Our society lives with various aggressive situations, competition and insensitivity. Fertile ground for emotional disorders to develop.

September is officially the month of suicide prevention and combat, because in 2014, by an initiative of the Center for the Valorization of Life (CVV), together with the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) and the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry (ABP), The Brazilian Suicide Prevention Campaign entitled “Yellow September” began. Every year this campaign that has as the motto “Life yes, Suicide no!” has been very important in addressing a problem that is considered public health.

Statistical data shows us the size of the problem. According to the Ministry of Health, suicide gradually increased in Brazil between 2000 and 2016: from 6,780 to 11,736, an increase of 73% in this period. The highest growth rates were recorded among young and old. Worldwide, suicide affects more than 800,000 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is the second cause of death on the planet among the ages of 15 to 29 year olds - the first is violence. By the time this article is read, at least two people will have died of suicide. Every 40 seconds, someone in the world interrupts their life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of self-inflicted deaths is significantly higher than those caused by homicide: 800,000 per year, compared to 470,000.

These are premature deaths that could be prevented because this is possible and there is no shortage of tools to do so. For experts, this complex phenomenon, which requires several ways of approaches, can only be effectively tackled when prejudice against mental illness, among others, is overturned.

How to help these people? Perhaps trying to understand the reasons, the first question we want answered is: Why do people kill themselves? We must understand the pain of those who seek the false door of suicide. Each day the suffering - physical or emotional - becomes more intense and living becomes a heavy and distressing burden. Life loses meaning. The world is dull, people dream of the possibility of closing their eyes and waking up in a new life, in a totally different world, in which their suffering ends.

There are several causes that lead the human being to suicide, all resulting from the lack of knowledge of how Divine Justice and Mercy work. We can list several causes to explain the choice of suicide, such as loneliness, materialism, depression, among many other alleged reasons. However, asThe Gospel According to Spiritism in Chapter V, item 16, clarifies us, unbelief, the simple doubt about the future, materialistic ideas, in a word, are the greatest inciters to suicide: for they produce moral cowardice.

The spread of materialistic doctrines is thus the poison that inoculates the idea of ​​suicide in most of those who commit suicide, and their advocates take terrible responsibility. With Spiritism doubt is no longer possible, thus changing one's view of Life.

The believer knows that existence extends indefinitely beyond the grave, but under very different conditions. Hence the patience and resignation that take him very naturally away from thinking about suicide; hence, in a word, moral courage. In The Book of Spirits, through question 943, Kardec asks: Where is the heartbreak of life born, which, for no plausible reason, takes hold of certain individuals? And in response he says it is due to the "Effect of idleness, lack of faith, and also of the feeling of satiety."

While on the one hand data show us that the number of suicides has increased, on the other hand it is a problem that can be largely avoided. In this regard, the difference between what we know is fundamental.

The first preventive measure is education: one must stop being afraid to talk about it, break down taboos and share information related to the topic. You need to lose the fear of approaching people and offering help. The person who is in a suicidal crisis perceives himself and herself in isolation. If a friend comes over and asks, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” the person may feel open to talk. And anyone can be that "friendly shoulder," who listens without criticism or advice. Those who decide to help should not worry about what they are going to say. The important thing is to be prepared to listen as directed by the CVV booklet (Speaking openly about suicide).

The magazine Unesp Science Oct / 2010, year 2, no. 13, points out factors that can protect against the attempt to shorten life and lists: - have well-cultivated affective bonds; - have a good relationship with the family, - have children, - have a spiritual belief, - have a stable financial condition; - have a professional achievement, no matter how simple the occupation.

Studying and discussing suicide is the most effective way to promote prevention, and it becomes possible when many fronts are united to combat and prevent suicide. It is essential the action of the family, teachers, health professionals, journalists, governors, churches, Spiritist centers, in short, we must join forces and prepare to be able to help those who need to be welcomed.

In this sense, the Spiritist center plays a fundamental role in welcoming the brothers with suicidal ideas who seek the Spiritist houses. Someone who arrives at the Spiritist house will often come across an evangelical explanation, the magnetic pass and the fraternal service, which is an individual service, a moment where the person can let off steam and be heard, and receive clarification. About the relations of the material world with the spiritual world, the future life, our condition as immortal Spirits, and especially understanding that it is not possible to cease to exist. You receive insights that warn of the dangers of exaggerated materialism, how the influence of Spirits occurs, and how many of our thoughts are influenced by disembodied Spirits, as shown in questions 459 and 460. When attending the Spiritist house, one is encouraged to see life in a new light that involves mind, body and spirit.

The student mentioned at the beginning of the article left another message on Facebook that said:

“You will not be aware of yourself at the university. You will not finally have friends. Your emptiness won't go away. Everything will be the same; it will be the same, except in another environment and with other obligations. You can go to Japan and nothing will change. There is no getting away from you own self”.

It is possible to perceive in the message, left by the young woman, the lack of hope and of faith in the future. In The Gospel According to Spiritism, in Chapter V, item 14, we find an enlightenment that helps us understand the way we see the world. The text of the Gospel makes it clear that calmness and resignation drawn in a way to consider earthly life and confidence in the future give the Spirit a serenity that is the best defense against madness and suicide.

The young woman who mistakenly chose the false door of suicide was certainly not experiencing moments of serenity, calmness and faith in the future, as the Gospel text directs us, and then we could reflect: Could this young woman's suicide not have been prevented? Maybe or maybe not, and then we start thinking about things that might have happened to change her choice. Maybe in a conversation with a friend, a family member, or a call to the CVV, or even the medical care of specialized therapists, the individual welcome in the Spiritist house, where she could have been welcomed and encouraged to make small changes in her daily life, to be encouraged to take a less materialistic and more spiritual view with the certainty of the immortality of the soul. Anyway, many actions could have happened, but there is no guarantee that the girl could have changed her mind.

What we do know is that knowledge about the topic and what can be done can be decisive in trying to prevent suicide. The truth is that this issue is very complex and thorny and needs more and more involvement of family, society and institutions, religious or not, around welcoming those who have lost hope and given up on life.

Bibliography:

The Gospel According to Spiritism (O Evangelho Segundo o Espiritismo): Chapter V, items 14 and 16,

The Book of Spirits (O Livro dos Espíritos):questions 459, 460 and 943,

CVV Primer (Cartilha do CVC) - Speaking openly about suicide,

Unesp Science Magazine (Revista Unesp Ciência), October 2010, year 2, no. 13

Editor’s Note:

This article was included in the contest “The Doctrine Explains”, held in 2018, promoted in the class of the Spiritist Speakers Course of the Federal District, in the Spiritist Federation of the Federal District (FEDF). The author is a lecturer and a Spiritist writer based in Brasília (DF).