Depression has become the leading cause of suicide: Dr Irfan Hyder 

KARACHI: "People tend to stay alone, but asking for help and trying to collect their good moments and successes might be a stress relief. Depression has become the leading cause of suicide, whereas communication with each other is the best therapy", said Prof. Dr Syed Irfan Hyder, Vice Chancellor, Ziauddin University. 

In collaboration with House of Pebbles, he addressed the audience in an interactive Seminar, "Understanding Suicide & Providing Support", organized by the Department of Clinical Psychology, Ziauddin University. This session aimed to examine the causes and symptoms of a hot topic these days, like suicide. 

"The modern method to display happiness is to publish photographs of vacations, family gatherings, and other exciting events on social media, but nobody can see how much misery you're experiencing. With the help of this workshop, we all can gain from having open discussions about mental health issues and suicide prevention because even one conversation has the power to alter someone's life", Dr Irfan Hyder added. 

While speaking during the workshop, Associate Clinical Psychologist Mariam Motiwala said that reasons for suicide in Pakistan could be domestic issues, financial problems, refusal to marry for the reason of choice, academic or work pressurize other factors can be a mental illness and hormonal imbalance. 

She said that the aftermath of suicide could result in feelings of guilt, despair, anxiety, and embarrassment in front of family, friends, and society, making it harder for the survivor to continue living; a suicide attempt can cause broken bones, organ failure, brain damage, and mental illness which is worse than death. 

A specialized humanistic therapist Azka Hasan discussed the suicide statistics and asserted that suicide could cause by 9.8 million thoughts, 1.3 million attempts create 44,975 suicides; the reason for suicide can be many as we are surrounded by a judgmental society where family pressure, compatibility, bullying children in schools, and relationship breakup can be the main reason for suicide. 

Earlier in her welcoming speech dean of faculty of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Dr Shehla Sidiki, praised the head of department Sarah Jahangir and "House of Pebbles" for organizing this session, said that over 7000 suicides occur annually, which has a triple detrimental effect on families, friends, and society.