Much has been said and will continue to be said about the suicide death of Charlotte Dawson. Likewise too much will be written about the suicide deaths of young Aboriginal children. This is quite correctly the case because these are serious issues that need to be talked about openly and plainly. The fact that some people have got to a stage in their lives that the prospect of death appeals to them far more than life, is a sad indictment of where we have come to in society.
I do not profess to be an expert on the subject and I believe that anyone seeking help in this area must avail themselves of the services of groups such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Reach Out and the other like minded agencies. However I wish to make some observations from the perspective of a person who has dealt with the suicide deaths of around 12 people in the last ten years.
I want to tell you about one particular case that occurred here in Perth in 1998. The person involved was a medical practitioner here. He had been in that practice for many years. On a Friday afternoon he contacted me and asked to speak with me. Late that afternoon (around 5pm) I went out to his surgery to see him. He appeared agitated and expressed a view that he wanted to ensure that if something were to happen to him, I was to look after his son and other family members. I asked why he was saying this to me and he said that he was going to go for a medical procedure on the following Monday and he did not think he would make it. Being in a position of a medical practitioner I was not about to question his judgment herein. I listened at length and walked away that night with a considerable sense of dread and trepidation. On Saturday morning he rang me and said he had forgotten to mention that I was to ensure that his granddaughter was to receive Spanish education in her lifetime. Further he wanted to ensure that his wife bought a new television set and a new car etc etc. By this stage I was quite disturbed by his discussions. On Sunday morning he rang again and raised a number of similar issues with me. I had made the decision that on Monday morning when I went to the office I would call his son (who worked with me) into my office and I would express the view that his dad was depressed and he needed to go and see him. When I got to the office the phone rang and it was his lawyer who advised me that the doctor had walked into a petrol station in Belmont, doused himself with fuel at the browser and dropped a match on himself. He was going up in flames with fire engines and ambulances screaming towards the station. In his hands were my business cards and as the firemen and ambulance paramedics came to him he said “Suresh knows all about this!” He died six days later after having suffered 3rd degree burns to 75% of his body. Needless to say the next six months were spent in coroner’s inquests and the like. Today there are three people who know why he did what he did and one of them is deceased and I am one of the other two.
The death of the doctor is a study in cultural and religious issues. The man was born Hindu in Malaysia 60+ years before his death. On the date of his wedding to a Christian girl he converted and became a devout follower of Christianity. He rose to the status of acolyte in the church. Just prior to his death he returned to Malaysia and visited a temple for the first time in 37 years. The note he left me at his death and the one he left to his priest acknowledged that he understood that he was not to undertake a cremation. He sought the forgiveness of his priest for having done what he did. The key observation from my perspective is the tenet in Hinduism that ascribes the practice of self immolation to remove sin. (Self-immolation is tolerated by some elements of Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism, and it has been practiced for many centuries, especially in India, for various reasons, including Sati, political protest, devotion, and renouncement. Certain warrior cultures, such as in the Charans and Rajputs, also practiced self-immolation – Wikipedia). (Further: In addition, some Hindus believe the act of self-immolation by a widow facilitates the attainment of spiritual salvation for her dead husband. The woman who commits sati is also revered as a goddess).
He felt that he had committed sin and this was his means of absolution. After 37 years of abiding by the principles of his Christian faith he had reverted to his first faith principles of Hinduism. This demonstrated the hold that faith principles can have on some people of belief.
Following the death of the doctor I have been involved, in some way or another, a number of suicides and suicide attempts mainly by Indian students and other young adults in Australia. In a few of the cases they have involved the rejection of permanent residency visas following a degree or TAFE course here in Australia. The overriding thought that motivates the thinking of a number of the victims is the abject sense of failure that consumes their whole being. Issues such as loss of face etc come to the fore.
In recent times I have given evidence to Senate standing Committees on the issues around suicides in culturally and linguistically diverse communities in WA. One of the key recommendations that I have made to coroner’s offices has been around the maintenance of ethnicity data in suicide cases. Suicide is not a crime. Hence police involvement and data collection is minimal at best. Therefore it is imperative that we try and ascertain the ethnicity and cultural norms of the suicide perpetrator or even in the case of attempted suicides. This will allow us to examine the common factors that may apply in the case of particular groups. I believe that there are issues around the “value” of life that applies particularly in communities coming from large population bases.
I am not minimising in any fashion the suicides that occur in any community group. Any suicide or any attempt at suicide is a cry for help that has not been heard. The collection of data of the kind I refer to above will help us determine trends that may be prevalent in particular faith or cultural communities. This allows us to deal with suicide attempts as mental health issues as they should be.
In the meantime it must be emphasised that agencies such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Reach Out all provide counselling services that help people talk through the issues involved. Transcultural mental health services are in short supply in WA. Hopefully, our new Mental Health Commissioner Tim Marney will examine the issues involved in these matters.
