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Thinking about suicide

When the movie “13 Reasons Why” was released, I watched it from start to finish. It was a time when I was not mentally healthy.

I broke up with my lover, heavily influenced by work and found no joy except drinking. Hannah Baker, the main character in the film, listed 13 reasons why she wanted to end her life. I find any reason reasonable, painfully reasonable.

I recount this passage to remind myself, there are times when my mind is just trying to interpret the one solution that I believe is the best fit for my life. But a few years later watching the movie again, I have no feelings, because I have overcome most of the above fluctuations.

Works on the subject of suicide have a different interaction with the recipient, compared to other topics. This subject often confronts two groups of audiences: The first group is those who have no problem at all, viewing the work from an outsider’s perspective. The second group is people who are in the danger of suicide and their minds are slowly moving towards it.

Artistic or journalistic content on the subject often walks a thin line between dangers: the first is to highlight, suggest how, for example detail how a person ends up living.

The second tendency is to romanticize the act of suicide, with beautiful words, beautiful characters, fateful actors and warm souls, going to heaven so that all problems can be solved. The audience at risk of suicide will logically deduce this is a reasonable choice at a time when they are most likely to choose this behavior.

The third trend is works that argue that suicide is the only option. The victim was hesitating, struggling to decide to survive, and immediately had a voice in his ear, persuading him to choose a way to free himself.

However, there is no easy answer whether to ban the topic of suicide or not.

If we avoid talking about suicide or make the topic taboo, it will become a mental health pandemic. People at risk do not receive prompt care. People with signs and need to seek help are not responding to the community. Families with victims of at-risk groups will hide it because the topic is considered embarrassing. While this is a health issue that needs to be discussed at all levels, from family, school, work, in artwork and in media production… to be able to create a network the rope in time to help the victim. Prohibition means denying the opportunity to save loved ones if they are at risk.

But if we talk about suicide in terms of romanticizing, dramatizing, or treating it as a solution, the contagion of this effect cannot be ignored. Journal The BMJ Health and Medicine 2020 published a synthesis of 31 studies linking suicide risk and suicide information appearing in the media. Result Studies show that celebrity suicides lead to a 13% increase in suicides. If the press introduces the method of suicide, the number of cases increases by 30%, if it is only normal reporting, the rate increases about 2% in the month of reporting.

In the music video “There’s no one at allJust stopped releasing in Vietnam by Son Tung M-TP, the main character wears makeup on his injured face, bleeding from life’s beatings, and his eyes are painted black with emo – a makeup that suggests people in the group often hurt themselves. body, always sad, feeling isolated from the world around, trampled by that world.At the end of the video, the character chooses to end his life and the frame closes.

This video is close to the third trend in the above risk group: The character has a solution for himself and rationalizes that solution without needing to explain or see another possibility.

I continued to watch another song, “Eight” by singers IU and Suga about suicide in Korean society, a topic that is more or less avoided in this country even though celebrities themselves are becoming its victim.

The lyrics of “Eight” express the melancholy feelings of a girl who wants to give up everything. In the video, she lies down, eyes closed – signaling a departure. Describe the deadlock and feeling disconnected from life, but “Eight” discuss with the audience about the dangerous intentions lurking in the character’s mind. There, the singer suggests a world “We dance under the orange sun/ Together with no shadow below us”Under the orange sun, no shadow hidden, no parting side by side, the memory is very present, the character flies through the cloud with the giant lizard. At the end of the video, she wakes up with tears in her eyes. That might be another hint, a hint of life and happiness, not death.

A measure to consider with works with content related to suicide (whether journalism, film or literature) is to attach a suicide hotline at the end of the article, by video or right at the scene. stimulation ability. People at risk of suicide need protection, need a loved one by their side, or a hotline to persuade them to leave a position where they may harm themselves. It is part of the responsibility of the artwork to the audience and to those who may be affected by the content the artist produces.

If I go to buy a new pair of shoes because I’m watching a good clip, that’s normal. But because watching a good clip that the audience chooses to end their life, that is definitely different from buying shoes.

Khai Don

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at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here

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