To Save Before The Leap (How to Save those with Suicidal Thoughts)

Source: Pexels (Designed by Lee Yuan Run)

If you watch the news recently, one of the noticeable phenomena is the frequent cases of people jumping off the Penang Bridge to commit suicide. According to the news report written by Malaymail, Penang recorded 233 suicide cases starting from the year of 2020, which includes 7 cases from Penang Bridge in the year of 2022.

News report on the frequent suicide cases happening in Penang. (Source: Malaymail)

Link for news report: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/06/02/penang-records-233-suicide-cases-since-2020-seven-from-penang-bridge-alone-this-year/10266

We cannot denied that suicide is something that will happen on our loved ones or even ourselves. When I interview some of my peers, I was in shock that three out of four of them encountered those who have suicidal thoughts or depression.

Therefore, to save those who have suicidal thoughts, or even ourselves, I had interviewed a professional counsellor, Mr. Lim Wooi Chin. He shared his thoughts and opinions on this topic, which is quite insightful for most people when they face the same issue.

Mr. Lim Wooi Chin, a counsellor with 20 years of experience

Mr.Lim is a counsellor who have 20 years of experiences and 8 years of working experiences in HCUC. (Photo taken by Lee Yuan Run)

As a counsellor, Mr. Lim have a total of 20 years of experiences. He also have 8 years of experiences working as a counsellor in Han Chiang University College of Communication. He usually help his stucents on the academic problems, but more importantly he will help those with psychological problems.

Opinion on the frequent cases of people jumping off Penang Bridge?

According to Mr. Lim, most of the recent suicide cases nowadays are caused by financial problems. He concluded that most people faced lack of income during the Movement Control Order period, which lead to struggle on psychological problems. The condition become worse when the prices for goods started to increase recently.

Financial problems lead people to suicidal thoughts. (Source: GCF Global)

Besides, Mr. Lim also said that the lack of socialisation is also one of the main reasons of suicidal thoughts. The decrease of contact with others caused them to lose the ability to think about problems logically.

Observable sympthoms before someone end their lives?

Mr. Lim stated that one of the observable sympthoms when someone want to suicide is they will start to isolate themselves from the society. They will try to avoid to get in contact with the society.

People with suicidal thoughs will isolate themselves from the public. (Source: AARP)

Futhermore, those with suicidal thoughts will started to give instructions on how to distribute their belongings. Mr. Lim stated that this is the moment that we really need to stay alert to them. They will try to give away precious things or things they loved very much previously.

People with suicidal thoughts will start to give away their precious things. (Source: KL Hospitality)

How to Help Those With These Sympthons?

Before answering, Mr. Lim pointed out a common misunderstanding for the public, which is asking about their suicidal thoughts will trigger them to commit suicide.

In contrast, we should talk to those with suicidal thoughts and understand what they are going through. We should also encourage them to talk to others more frequently.

You can help those with suicidal thoughts by talking to them and understanding their problems. (Source: Shutterstock)

However, if the solutions failed to work, Mr. Lim suggested those around them to take them to the psychologists.

To Save Ourselves from Suicidal Thoughts?

How do we help ourselves if we have suicidal thoughts? Mr. Lim actually suggested us to exercise, listen to music or jogging. He also stated that exercising can refresh us, which provide a way to relax ourselves from the emotions.

Exercise can refresh our body and soul. (Source: Muscle & Fitness)

However, Mr. Lim also suggested that we can call the professional hotline. He reassured that these hotlines will not know your identity, which means that you can protect your privacy when you talk to them.

Below are some of the hotline you can call for aid:

Befrienders Malacca Peti Suraj No. PS245 Pejalat Pos Besar Melaka 75100 MELAKA Contact by: Face to Face - Phone Hotline: (06) 284 2500

Befrienders Penang 104-1A Mewah Court Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim 11600 PULAU PINANG Contact by: Face to Face - Phone - E-mail: Hotline: (04) 281 5161 Hotline: (04) 281 1108 Website: befpen.org E-mail Helpline: pat@befpen.org Hours: Sat, Sun: 17:00 - 23:00

The Befrienders Kuala Lumpur 95 Jalan Templer Petaling Jaya 46000 SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN Contact by: Face to Face - Phone - Letter: - E-mail: Hotline: (03) 7956 8144 Hotline: (03) 7956 8145 Website: befrienders.org.my/ E-mail Helpline: sam@befrienders.org.my Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun: 00:00 - 23:00

Befrienders Ipoh Peti Surat 413 Ipon 30750 PERAK Contact by: Face to Face - Phone Hotline: (05) 547 7933 Hotline: (05) 547 7599

Befrienders Seremban Seremban Contact by: - Phone Hotline: 06 7653588 Hotline: 06 7653589 Hours:

Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri: 19:00 - 22:00

Lifeline Association of Malaysia 71-2nd Floor, Jin Jejaka 2 55100 TMN MALURI Contact by: Face to Face - Phone Hotline: (063) 92850039 Hotline: (063) 92850279 Hotline: (063) 92850049

(Source of information: http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/international/malaysia-suicide-hotlines.html )

The Main Source of stress for People Nowadays?

According to Mr. Lim, people nowadays, especially teenagers or the elders face expectations from the society. These expectations lead them to face a huge amount of stress and lead to suicidal thoughts.

" They expected them to own cars, houses or family and babies. These lead to the people's stress uncounciously," said Mr Lee.

Society give expectations on teenagers or elders on their social status such as owning a car or not. (Source: CEOWORLD Magazine)

What do you think about the comments that describe those who attempt to end their lives "weak"?

"It was easy for them to say so," said Mr. Lim.

Mr. Lim said that he always think that suicide needs a huge courage, as they will need to endure the pain and guilt towards those who love them.

Hateful comments only trigger those who want to commit suicide further into despair. (Source: Alamy)

He also begged the netizens to stop their hateful comments as they are only triggering the victims and not helping them. He stated that such comments only will pull the victims in despair and believe that there are no kindness in the society.

Conclusion?

To conclude, Mr. Lim suggested family members and friends of the potential suiciders can try to contact the experts. He said so as he knew some of them fear that they will say sensitive words that will triggered them.

Besides, he also suggested those with suicidal thoughts to accept the counselling services from the experts or NGOs. He reasurred that these services are mostly free and they should try it out.

Nobody Truely Want to End Their Lives, They Just Want to End Their Pain.

I sincerely hope that this article and interview can help you to save those in need or even yourself. Let us hold on tight to the ticket of Life, and chase our dreams with our precious smiles.

If you wished to watch our interview in the video format, do not hesistant to click the video below!

-To Save Before The Leap-

Thanks for reading and I will see you all next time!