10 September: Suicide Prevention Day
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is organized since 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, with the World Health Organization as co-sponsor of the day.
Its purpose is to raise awareness that suicide can be prevented. This is a growing and shocking problem. Someone commits suicide every forty seconds. According to WHO, that comes to about 800,000 people every year; but several estimates put that number closer to one million. More people die from suicide than from murder and war.
For every suicide resulting in death, there are as many as forty attempted suicides. Every life lost represents someone’s partner, child, parent, friend or colleague. So, the number of those who suffer intense grief or are otherwise affected is enormous. This is part of a mental health emergency.
It is good to be aware that any of us can suffer depression and want to give up. No person or group is exempt from such human weakness. So, we cannot judge anyone who attempts suicide. What we need to do to understand suicidal tendencies and their underlying causes, and help those who feel tempted. Many suicides can be prevented through listening, counselling, friendship, community support and spiritual helps, such as meaningful prayer, healing retreats and developing a personal sense of God’s nearness and strength.
Physical and especially mental health disabling issues, such as depression, are among the most common of the long list of complex and interrelated factors, ranging from financial problems to the experience of abuse, aggression, exploitation and mistreatment, that can contribute to the feelings of pain and hopelessness underlying suicide. Having access to means to kill oneself—most typically firearms, drugs and poisons—is also a risk factor.
This special Day aims at:
- Promoting mental health literacy among the general population;
- Raising awareness about suicidal behaviour and mental health disorders;
- Decreasing the stigmatization and taboos regarding suicide;
- Reaching out to those who don’t seek help;
- Highlighting where and how people can get the help they need
23 September: Day of the Deaf
Established in 1951, this Day is also celebrated annually as the International Day of Sign Languages. This year’s theme is: Sign Languages are for everyone!
According to WHO, over 5% of the world’s population (360 million persons!) suffer from loss of hearing, resulting from genetic causes, diseases, chronic ear infections, exposure to excessive noises and aging. Globally, there is a lack of access for treating hearing loss. Timely and effective interventions can help people to achieve their full potential, facilitating their education, employment and communication.
The deaf are unable to hear—partially or fully. But they are capable of everything else. They are not stupid! Our society inaccurately depicts them as “disabled.”
They have a beautiful visual language which involves moving the hands combined with facial expressions and gestures.
In the past, they were forced to oralism, i.e., communicating using speech and lip-reading. That was really difficult for most of them. Speech therapy is still emphasized, because children who are deaf are sometimes also dumb.
Decision-makers must be constantly motivated to effectively include deaf people. Our workaday world should strengthen the status of sign languages on a par with spoken languages. These are often misunderstood as mere gestures. But this is not true. These are fully functioning languages with grammar, syntax, etc., structurally distinct from spoken languages, alongside which they coexist. There is a simpler international sign language used by deaf people in international meetings, and informally when travelling and socializing. This has a limited lexicon.
The first sign language dictionary, called Gestuno, was published in 1965. It recorded three hundred gestures; the third edition has already 1500. Unlike Gestuno, the international language developed in a natural way using natural and iconic gestures, drawings and labels, lexical and grammatical elements of national sign languages.
Various integrative programmes enable deaf and hearing children to attend the same school and learn side by side. Educators are encouraged to learn the sign language and techniques so as to include deaf children in their class.
Every family develops its own gestures to communicate with a deaf child. When the child enters the inclusive school, he or she learns a sign language and may not use those family gestures anymore. Therefore, it is important that parents learn the sign language in order to communicate and support their child more effectively.
Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC
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