A Buddhist Approach to the Reduction of Suicide Rates

Abstract

The rate of committing suicide has increased more than never before in all over the world today, creating a copious calamity. According to psychologists, a death rate around eight lakhs a year has been recorded due to suicide. There is a new trend among the teenagers to commit suicide. It is acute in Sri Lanka too, as around four thousand deaths a year have been reported due to suicide in Sri Lanka. These deaths are mainly caused due to psychological problems and frustration. Physical disorders, abnormal behaviors and drunkenness or drug abuse are some other causes for this crisis. Those reasons have also been elaborated in terms of five categories such as Psychological influence, Physical influence, Sociological influence, Environmental influence, and Karmic influence. Therefore, my attempt in this survey is to identify the Buddhist approach to decrease the number of suicides. Counseling, meditation, logo therapy and awareness-making are the solutions which can be recognized as the possible solutions for this issue. Establishing self-confidence is the most effective remedy which can be practised through Buddhism. This study investigates the reasons and the solutions to committing suicides. Finally, the objective of this paper is to evaluate how applicable the Buddhist concepts are for such modern issues.