The document discusses Durkheim's three types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, and anomic. It then provides a personal anecdote about a girl from the author's high school who committed suicide. The author believes suicides can be prevented by reducing the stigma around mental illness and therapy, making counseling more accessible and focused on health rather than academic achievement. Early intervention could have saved the life of the girl from their high school.
The document discusses Durkheim's three types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, and anomic. It then provides a personal anecdote about a girl from the author's high school who committed suicide. The author believes suicides can be prevented by reducing the stigma around mental illness and therapy, making counseling more accessible and focused on health rather than academic achievement. Early intervention could have saved the life of the girl from their high school.
The document discusses Durkheim's three types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, and anomic. It then provides a personal anecdote about a girl from the author's high school who committed suicide. The author believes suicides can be prevented by reducing the stigma around mental illness and therapy, making counseling more accessible and focused on health rather than academic achievement. Early intervention could have saved the life of the girl from their high school.
The document discusses Durkheim's three types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, and anomic. It then provides a personal anecdote about a girl from the author's high school who committed suicide. The author believes suicides can be prevented by reducing the stigma around mental illness and therapy, making counseling more accessible and focused on health rather than academic achievement. Early intervention could have saved the life of the girl from their high school.
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What are the differences between egoistic, altruistic and anomic suicide?
Look up three famous
people who have committed suicide and the reasons they did this (either what you find about them or what you think the reason was). Which type of suicide did each commit (based on the chapter)? Do you know anyone who has committed suicide? How did this affect their family? How did this affect you? If you don't know anyone, imagine how you might feel. Can you think of something we can do to help prevent suicides, particularly for young people?
According to Emile Durkheim, there are many reasons a person can commit suicide; many of these reasons are novel the general population, who may think depression and mental illness are the primary reasons for committing suicide. Durkheim first cites egoistic suicide, which is a type of suicide committed by individuals who do not feel attached to a group. These individuals can feel less integrated with society. Durkheim uses unmarried individuals, as well as those that align with the Protestant sect of Christianity, as examples of people who would fall into this category. The second type of suicide presented is altruistic suicide. In this type, the value of the group is placed much higher than the value of the individual, and thus individuals perceive their lives as inconsequential. There are many cultures that Durkheim points to in order to show individuals that may commit this type of suicide; one such example is kamikaze pilots in World War II. The last type of suicide Durkheim defines is anomic suicide. This is the suicide most Western people think of; it appears to occur in people who feel they are pursuing goals that no longer have meaning. With this type of suicide, this can occur in times of hardship, whether it be social, economic, or familial, or by a traumatic events in which the established status quo of an individual is changed.
When I was in high school, there was a girl in one of my classes who committed suicide. About a month prior to her taking her life, I briefly interviewed her for an article in the yearbook. I did not know the girl personally, and had not spoken to her outside of that interview, but I had a close friend who had dated her earlier in high school. He was devastated, and I know that he couldnt help but feel responsible, at least in part, even though he knew he was not responsible. I attended the funeral with my friend, and the people who spoke at the funeral were overcome with emotions; the girls sister couldnt finish the poem she had written. I know that I felt a lot of emotions that day, even without knowing her, because the topic of suicide is extremely upsetting, especially with a girl so young. Moreover, what is more disheartening is that I think these suicides can be prevented. There is a large flaw with society in that they stigmatize mental illness and therapy; this causes people to feel like they cannot get help for any negative feelings that they may have. Many people can get help before it is too late, as was the case for the girl at my high school. In young people, there can be more options that seem actually accessible for counseling, more than just the counselors at my high school who were more concerned with getting students into the best colleges possible. If people start to approach mental health problems as regular and not a hindering issue, then people will be more likely to seek help when they feel that they need it.