After witnessing several suicide cases that took place in the last few days in our country, the Lebanese Psychiatric Society, the only body that can speak on behalf of all psychiatrists in Lebanon, wishes to provide the following scientific and medical information:
Suicide is not a death wish, the life instinct is very strong in the human being. But suicide is a refusal of suffering and pain.
The suicide of a human being cannot be approached in a simplistic way as if it’s related to a single causal factor. Suicide is a complex case where several factors coexist.
Every human being who has attempted suicide or committed suicide has his own personal history.
Suicide occurs on a terrain of personal vulnerability. However, the surrounding conditions and in particular the socio-economic and political conditions alone, can strongly raise the individual risk, and lead to despair and cause suicide committal.
There are no official figures for the number of suicides in Lebanon like other developed countries. However, there is free help throughout Lebanon that psychiatrists offer in their offices, hospitals, clinics or other associations and non-governmental organizations.
The only way to fight against suicide is to recognize human suffering. This can be done only by asking and seeking help, only from a mental health professional.
The suicide issue also reveals more broadly, the question of mental illness in our country and the stigma and shame that still surround the patients who suffer from it.