Ancient Greece: The Development And Growth Of Suicide

A bitter truth that everyone can agree upon is that one day every living being will have to die. Death is a part of nature and the ones who are really affected by it are those who remain living. Similar to death, suicide shares the characteristic of a life ending and the survivors living with the loss. Unfortunately, in the case of suicide, the life did not end as a result of nature’s course but instead was a conscious, self-inflicted decision to end one’s own life. The concept of suicide is not a modern trend but can be traced far back in history. That said, the popular belief about suicide and the popularity of such occurrences were not always the same. This essay will focus on the development and growth of suicide on a global scale and reveal

Order of the state, painful and incurable illness, or some manner of intolerable misfortune were listed as some of the valid reasons for suicide. The concept of suicide can be found in nearly every culture and according to Värnik, aside from rituals and customs, suicide was a rare occurrence that did not get much attention. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica reveal that while the Aztecs had their ritual warrior sacrifices to their gods of war, suicide was a major role in the culture of Japanese Samurai. Overall, early reasons of suicide were rarely based on private and personal reasons, but heavily on tradition and

Founded in 1948, the World Health Organization started researching and tracking health issues on a global scale. At one point along their studies, WHO started studying suicide statistics and over the past half century concludes that “suicide is a major global phenomenon” (WHO). Upon further explanation, WHO reveals that despite popular belief, 78% of suicide is committed in low to mid-income countries. In his publication, Peebles states that at nearly 1 million deaths were caused by suicide in 2012, making it the world’s 3rd leading cause of death. Considering that the early and middle aged groups are the main contributors to the staggering numbers, suicide became a major topic of concern, and as SOARS concludes in their publication, lead to many studies, organizations, and health