Suicide is not an easy subject to talk about. It is an extremely sensitive topic, which to an extent remains a taboo. Even in genuine conversation, as soon as someone drops the s-word, everyone becomes uncomfortable and sits up.

The silence is compounded by media houses having for a very long time practiced a veto on reporting it. Research shows that the mere news can have an encouraging effect on someone who might be contemplating it. Hence, suicide is never part of a constructive national conversation, and as we know, the unknown often translates into fear – and fear can never be addressed.

While I do not wish to challenge current practices, I feel that within the context of a world of social media, online news portals and endless whatsapp groups, I doubt a report on the 8 o’ clock news has the same bearing it used to just 10 years ago.

What we know for certain is that something did happen this summer and probably we need to address it sooner rather than later.

We need to understand what is driving amazing individuals, often in their prime of their lives to resort to the unthinkable. Perhaps more pertinently, we need to understand why these men and women are failing to open up, and seek the help they so direly need.

I am not a mental health professional, and I will not attempt to simplify or reduce the complex medical intricacies of suicide in this short article. My observations are merely those of someone who is sorrowed by the loss of life, and the aftermath of pain that survives.

We are living in a world of heightened expectations. In order to fit in, we feel the need to don an impenetrable facade of success. Social media exposes us to unreachable standards constantly making us feel inept and failing.

Sometimes I genuinely ask myself, do these people ever work? Do they spend their days by the pool or in Bali? Obviously, what we see on our screens is a well-crafted, cleverly curated fiction, designed to sell products, lifestyles or even ideas of success.

Success though can have so many different flavours, shapes and forms! Success is living one’s life to the best of their capabilities. Success is being surrounded by people who love you. Success is loving someone for who they are. Success is accepting oneself for who you truly are and loving yourself unconditionally.

I shudder to think that amazing people, who I admire so much, are going through incredibly rough times, and no one, not even the closest humans to them, will be aware. They will be suffering alone, in darkness and silence. This is perhaps the hardest part of the entire equation – the fact that these people often actually think that they are a burden on those who surround them and that their loved ones would be better off without them.

This obviously cannot be farther from the truth. Perhaps there might be issues that would need addressing, but nevertheless, the pain these people leave behind is unfathomable, often leading to immense trauma amongst loved ones, family, and friends.

I wish we could do more. I wish we could create awareness about the subject that reaches out to people going through a hard time, and help them overcome the darkness.

We must break the stigma that surrounds suicide and mental health in general, and build a society where it is perfectly normal and OK to seek help. If we take our cars for a service every six months, why shouldn’t we take care of ourselves with the same love and care. We must eradicate all taboos about medication as well. Help comes in many ways, and medication is just another form of help we may need. Let’s trust our health professionals and build a healthy rapport with them. Let’s follow their advice.

We all go through rough patches, and we all feel like the entire world is crumbling around us sometimes. But we must open up, and we must reach out for help. That, perhaps, is the greatest form of success.