WHO reports – one person commits suicide every 40 seconds in the world

WHO has revealed some shocking statistics that every 40 seconds, someone somewhere takes his or her own life by committing suicide – this is based on figures of 803,900 such deaths across the world every year nzherald.co.nz. WHO has stressed that there is a need to go in for coordinated action to reduce this trend of suicides worldwide. Diego De Leo, director of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention at Griffith University was involved in the preparation of the report. He has clarified that there had not been any similar carried out earlier because suicide was considered to be an example of negative behavior rather than a disease – hence, it did not come within purview of the jurisdiction of an international entity. One usually associates suicides with one’s inability to accept failures – these could be in studies (mostly school and college students), in love (between mature persons), or even at the work place (for adults) or for those suffering from financial depressions. Those who are unable to stand up to pressures often succumb to taking their own lives. However, it may be noted that suicide was a culture in Japan – there people used to resort to what is known as Hara-kiri. This is also known as seppuku or the ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen with a dagger or knife. It used to be practiced in Japan by members of the warrior class when disgraced or sentenced to death. Then there were the zero-bombers of Japan – they used to take off in airplanes during the WWII with the mission of diving into the ships to destroy them. These were the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated between 1940 and 1945 by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Of late, suicide bombers have come into prominence due to terrorist organizations who recruit children and even girls to act as suicide bombers. Most of the children are not even aware of what would happen once the explosive device fitted on them explodes. They are usually lured by the bait of money and, at times, their families agree to them acting as suicide bombers.