LIFE IS WORTH LIVING/A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM

Cultural Differences

The way people view suicide varies greatly.  Some view it as a crime, others as a coward's escape, and still others as an honorable way of apologizing for a blunder.  Some even consider it a noble way to further a cause. Why such different viewpoints?  Culture  plays a major role. In fact, The Harvard Mental Health Letter suggests that culture may even "influence the likelihood of  suicide." 

Consider a country in central Europe-Hungary.  Dr. Zoltan Rihmer refers to the high suicide rate there as Hungary's "sad 'tradition.' " Bela Buda, the director of Hungary's National Institute for Health, noted that Hungarians commit suicide all too readily, for virtually any reason.  "He has cancer-he knows how to end that state" is according to Buda, a common reaction. 

In India, there was once a religious custom known as a suttee. Although this practice, in which a widow throws herself on the funeral pyre of her husband, has long been prohibited, it still is not quite extinct. When one woman reportedly committed suicide in this way, many of the local people glorified the tragedy.  According to India Today, that region of India "has seen nearly 25 women burn themselves on their husband's pyres in as many years. 

Remarkably, in Japan suicide claims three times as many lives as do traffic accidents!  "Japan's traditional culture, which has never condemned suicide, is known for a highly ritualized and institutionalized form of self -disembowelment (seppuku or hari-kiri)."  says Japan-An Illustrated Encyclopedia. In his book Bushido-The Soul of Japan, Inazo Nitobe, who later became the under-secretary-general of the League of Nations, explained this cultural fascination with death.  He wrote:  "An invention of the middle ages, [seppuku] was a process by which  warriors could expiate their crimes, apologize  for errors, escape from disgrace, redeem their friends, or prove their sincerity."  Although this ritualistic form of suicide is generally a thing of the past, a few still resort to it for the sake of social impact.  

Next time: LIFE IS WORTH LIVING/A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM -Conclusion of Cultural Differences

From the Awake! magazine