Like all life forms, we humans are also designed to survive. Our brain is deeply hardwired to keep self-preservation as the main agenda. This makes it difficult to explain how a person is able to commit an act that he/she is hardwired to prevent at any cost. Psychologists have offered various models for explaining the seemingly inexplicable act of killing “self.” Nevertheless, the most interesting model is a counterintuitive idea. It suggests that suicide is actually an extreme act of survival itself.
Humans are unique because our concept of “self” is no longer mere body. Today, our self-identity resides in our imagination.
If we look at a case like that of VG Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day chain, it becomes a bit easier to understand. Consider also Sushant Singh Rajput, a celebrity actor. These examples help in understanding a brand new phenomenon now at play. But when you look at a “commoner” like Atul Subhash, the theory needs extrapolation to clearly relate it to suicide.
The question to ask in case of Atul is, “Would he have committed suicide in a world without social media?” The most likely answer is, “NO”.
If we explore celebrity cases, suicide is easy to explain as an ultimate act of self-preservation.
People like Sushant or Siddhartha have a strong social identity built around them. They must sense themselves to be more than the body that contains them. There is a great possibility that their brains perceive their social self as the more “real” self. This self must be protected at any cost, even that of the body.
One would not like to go into debating if they were successful in preserving the self or not. Nonetheless, it is clear that their suicide can be explained reasonably well by the above model. This model shows the shifting of “self” from the real body to an imaginary self-identity.
In case of Atul, it may be similar but not the same. His suicide may not be to preserve his social identity directly, but it is most likely to get even. He aims to emerge as a victor by making the ultimate sacrifice. This entails terminating his bodily existence in favour of a social “self” that sought the revenge.
NOT GETTING BIG
Debates may arise about the “why” of his and every other suicide. If we look for the most common factor, it is difficult to ignore that social media is involved in almost every suicide we see. And it is no longer possible to ignore the numbers.
Suicide as a cause of death is now getting big.
If we look at the statistics of leading causes of death in humans, the hardest hitting reality is clear. Suicide now sits in the middle of HIV and malaria. If we look at “unnatural” deaths, suicide is second only to road accidents and catching up.
Suicide is killing so many people, which is startling. Yet, more startling is the possibility we consider when we examine the increase in the suicide rate over the years.
SOCIAL STIGMA
Suicide, like rape, carries a social stigma. The statistics linked with it can be fairly inaccurate. A lot of such acts will not be recorded.
If we look at all the big events after 2000, one stands out. It is the rise of social media as a force. It matches exactly with the rising death toll. Social media is growing by the day. It is a scary possibility that really needs our attention.
As most of us are seeking validation on this new medium, it is the most potent context for our self-identity.
Social media poses a significant issue. It is a fake medium that, by design, allows us to construct fake identities. As our portrayal influences how others perceive us, it gradually leads to a fabrication. We are then compelled to continually maintain this facade, sometimes leading to suicide.
If V.G Siddhartha or Sushant or Atul had stepped out of this fabricated reality, they might have noticed real people who loved them. These people will now miss them. Such stepping out would have reconnected them to the real self that we all have. They would have seen the bigger truth that imagination is a shallow and hollow place to live in.
Real world has love, caring and kindness that makes human existence far more special. So, let us learn never to replace it completely by social media.
If we get practical, let us recognise that social media is absolutely not the place to be when going gets tough.
When going gets tough, tough must get going away from social media.
(Dr Naresh Purohit is advisor-National Mental Health Programme. The views and opinion expressed in this article are those of the author)
