Attempting suicide remains illegal in at least 19 countries—from Nigeria to Bangladesh—many of which inherited their rules from British common law.

Not quite a news but a general piece on the subject.

Key points:

  • The Dewan Rakyat recently passed a bill to decriminalise suicide attempt. The removal of Section 309 of the Penal Code - which informed the punishment for suicide attempt with jail term and fine, was seen as a crucial milestone in the legal reform, and welcomed by many.
  • Sec. 309 has its roots in the British Common Law, which existed with the reasoning that criminalising suicide (making it punishable) would be an act of prevention. However, studies have shown that there is no proof of its effectiveness - countries with laws criminalising suicide do not show a lower suicide rate than those without such a law.
  • In fact, criminalising suicide may indeed mask the truth in regard to suicide rates and mental health crisis of a country - attempted suicide cases are often not reported as such due to a fear of ramification.
  • Decriminalising suicide - as crucial it is - is just a first step toward building a more comprehensive framework for suicide prevention and rehabilitation, including coming up with policies to provide help like therapy for those at risks.
  • Beyond legal matters, there should also be more effort in place to remove social stigma surrounding mental health problems and suicide, to encourage more people to speak up and reach out for help.
  • @rom1215_OP
    3•1 year ago

    Haha, I get what you mean, just that we usually don’t use the word “force” (as the other friend pointed out, mandatory might be more apt here) because of the more negative connotation, but yeah.

    And you did raise some good perspective too, including the perception of some people towards mental health treatment like therapy. Having a structure/system where we expose a person to mental health treatment (therapy), even if just for running a formal procedure, might be, in logic, better than not giving people the opportunity to get any help at all, but that also raises some questions, not just practical, but a lot of ethical ones as well.

    Definitely as a MHP I’m inclined to agree with including counselling and therapy (mandatory or otherwise) in the treatment for people with suicidal risks or record. But was also sharing (a bit lamenting, ha) about the shortcomings of the current healthcare system in implementing the policies.

    Can’t say there is an ideal solution to that - but indeed some form of help is needed, and if it’s structured as a standard policy, it’s certainly for the better.