The Sniper Suicide Trend

Life is beautiful, and I do not think I would ever wish to take mine. Sometimes, I wonder why people ever decide to take theirs; but come to think of it, you cannot really expect to understand until you walk in their shoes. And so, I do not judge. It might be that life has yet to put me in a condition that will cause me to do things I thought I would never do; it might be that I yet have to understand life well enough.

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Source

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It was the first time someone I knew had ever committed suicide. Sometime in 2019, a friend of mine took her life by drinking sniper. At the time, it somehow became rampant; there were numerous cases of people drinking Sniper and putting themselves to death. Sniper was supposed to be a regular insecticide, but the government had to ban it from being sold in open shops. Unfortunately, my friend was one of the victims of the Sniper suicide trend.

We did not really talk that much, but all I could remember was greeting her as she was talking with another friend of hers before going to work. She looked okay that morning, but she certainly was not. If she had been, she would not have killed herself that same day. It was said that she was pregnant, and that was all I ever knew about why she killed herself. There is certainly so much more to it...

People commit suicide often, but the Sniper suicide trend made me realise how many people think about committing suicide on a daily basis. The trend, at the time, probably just made the means to commit suicide more rampant and popular. Everyone who had the desire to commit suicide saw a popular, fast and reliable means. But then, it also showed how much people are going through secretly, and how often they wish they could take it all away by ending their lives.

I have always thought that people commit suicide only when they have very troubling issues. But the testimony of a former colleague of mine about how she almost committed suicide over being denied admission on her first try made me realise otherwise. From her testimony, I came to realise that people commit suicide not because of what has happened, but because of how they feel. I'm not a psychologist, but I think depression in its most extreme form can drive people to suicide.

As she told me about what had happened, we laughed about it together; it seemed very funny to imagine that she had ever done a thing like that. Meanwhile, she was just talking about the crazy things she had done, and she referred to herself as being young and stupid; but that was probably not the case. It obviously doesn't matter whether or not she is a child; she simply exhibited what she felt. And anyone would have done the same if their emotions had caused them to feel the same. The issue might seem simple, but it caused her great emotional distress, and she was dealing with it alone. That she survived to eventually make fun of it is a testament to her strength; my friend who died during the Sniper suicide trend might have also made fun of hers if she had survived 🥺.

I used to think that people do not have any reason to take their own lives, but it has changed over time. It began with the Sniper suicide trend, and with the death of my friend. For the first time, it happened to someone I knew, and I was for the first time convinced that someone did not take her life over some trivial reason. Even after being told that she was pregnant, I was convinced that there was more. It could be that she was dealing with her demons alone, on her own. Watch out for neighbours, friends and family; people are going through a lot on their own.