UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

‘Tis the season for joy and merriment for most of us, especially Christians who observe the birth of Jesus Christ as a major event. For all, the advent of a new year is cause for hope and rejoicing after surviving the current year, especially during these pandemic times.

But amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, many are suffering from loneliness, isolation, and outright depression. Seeing the merriment around them makes the loneliness even worse. There’s a common perception that suicides increase during the Christmas holidays. Well, research shows the suicide rate is not any higher during the holidays except on New Year’s Day and the day after. It may be an effect of the merrymaking rubbing off on the lonely person temporarily, and the void that comes after magnifies their isolation in the coming year, such that it triggers suicidal thoughts rather than face the thought of another year of loneliness.

Now, the youth are increasingly vulnerable to isolation because of the pandemic lockdowns and the detachment that comes with engaging in social media to the exclusion of actual physical contact. Social media is even more dangerous in that it subjects many to vicious personal attacks and trolling, which negatively affect the emotionally fragile ones the most. These attacks make them feel worthless and more isolated. Without anybody to turn to, many contemplate ending their lives.

Whatever may be the case, it behooves us to be more attuned to our family’s and friends’ feelings during holiday seasons and beyond. These persons usually will send out signals on their social media or drop some hints to close family members and friends of their difficulties in dealing with life. It is up to us to sense these signals and proactively engage them and/or refer them to organizations that deal with suicide.

Simply typing suicide prevention on a search engine will show a list of organizations offering free online and phone counseling. There is the National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline (1553 or 0966-351-4518) which offers 24/7 counseling in English and Filipino. The Suicide Crisis Lines offer landline and cell phone numbers. The list of organizations offering suicide prevention counseling is actually a long one.

Often, it just takes lending an ear to hear out the problems and difficulties someone faces and to offer a few words of assurance and suggestions to make their life burdens more bearable. Instead of mindlessly enjoying the cheers of the season, we can emphasize the real spirit of the season which is hope.

Hope because the Christ child was born and the promise of salvation is at hand. Hope because it is the start of a new year and new beginnings that we can change our lives for the better.

We Filipinos are more optimistic than other nationalities. This often shows up in surveys where majority view their futures as rosier than their present condition. No matter if the prices of prime commodities have gone up stratospherically, and inflation reigns supreme, or our salaries barely cover our daily needs, or the casualty count of police operations mount, or our lawmakers conspire to deplete our pension funds, Filipinos have found a way to be upbeat, because of hope.

Otherwise, we would see the suicide count go even higher. For that, we should be grateful. But how much can resilience help us when we’re at the end of our ropes in grappling with the stark realities of daily living? Survival is fine at the minimum,but as human beings, we should aspire for a better and decent life that fulfills our dreams and aspirations, or we are no better than animals living in a concrete jungle.

So, let’s hope for a better future. Even better, let’s make the future better by proactively working for our family, friends, and the rest of society’s welfare in general. For we are in this together as a people. Let’s help each other in ways big and small. Every little bit counts, especially for our poor and downtrodden.