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Suicide


By Marianita Paiva e Dias

Suicide comes from the Latin word suicidium which means to kill oneself. The act or an instance of causing death intentionally is called suicide. According to some European languages it is called self murder. It can also be called as a crime against self. Suicide is hard to understand, especially when someone you love commits suicide.The most commonly used method of suicide varies from person to person. Common methods include: hanging, pesticide, drowning, poisoning, and firearms etc. Untreated mental illness including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others is also the cause for the vast majority of suicides. Also, some people are genetically predisposed to depression, and thus they may not appear to be undergoing any negative life experiences, yet still become depressed, and may die by suicide. Attempts are more common in the younger generation. Usually there are various causes of suicide and not just one cause. Many people die by suicide because depression is triggered by several negative life experiences, and the person does not receive treatment – or does not receive effective treatment – for the depression.

A person who is at risk of committing suicide usually shows signs - whether consciously or unconsciously - that something is wrong. Keep an eye out for signs of clinical depression, withdrawal from friends and family, sadness and hopelessness, lack of interest in previous activities, or in what is going on around them, physical changes, such as lack of energy, different sleep patterns, change in weight or appetite, loss of self-esteem, negative comments about self-worth, bringing up death or suicide in discussions or in writing, previous suicide attempts, getting personal affairs in order, such as giving away possessions, or having a pressing interest in personal wills or life insurance.

When suicidal thoughts are brought on by an immediate interpersonal life event, then reliving this event or talking with a close friend or family member may resolve the crisis. It takes a little work to rediscover purpose and meaning in our lives. But the prize is worth the work. Keep fighting, friend. Know that you're not alone.

An attempt to suicide is treated as a psychiatric emergency. So the person should be treated in a hospital which room includes a complete psychiatric evaluation, a mental status examination, and a detailed assessment of the circumstances surrounding the attempt. In order to obtain information of the patient the relatives are often interviewed in order to find out the cause. The patient is kept under strict observation until decisions are made about the patient.

If you do have suicidal thoughts, then talking through those feelings with a counsellor could help you to come to terms with them and help you to realise that your life is worth living.

No one wants to see someone they care for suffer. It can be difficult to know how to help someone who is suicidal. You want to help them you know that their unhappiness is deep and complex. But you are worried that your interference may drive them to commit suicide or that it may be said that you are nosey. But still do not stop there, do not keep silent -- act, get help. Speak to a counselor or a friend whom you can trust. By talking about it and understanding what to do, you will be in a better position to help the distressed person as well as the family from a tragic incident or from suicidal thoughts.

People who talk about suicide are just attention seeking and won't actually go through with it. You shouldn't talk about suicide because it might give someone the idea to do it. If a person is serious about killing themselves then there is nothing you can do.

It is said that Soul goes to the devil. No one has a right to take one’s life. It’s a gift of God. Seeing the youngsters having these thoughts in mind and committing this act for petty reasons inspired me to write this article.

Suicide is NEVER the answer,
getting help is the answer.



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St. Francis Xavier - Goencho Saib

by Jackson Dias

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his own soul?”

Those, dear reader, were the scorching words of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order and a close associate of Francis Xavier, when he was at the seminary. Francis was deeply perturbed with the depth of the meaning of these words and they had an unshakeable impact on his life. And, were it not for a simple circumstance of a colleague falling ill, Francis Xavier might never have left the Portuguese University and the promising future that lay before him in Europe. He volunteered to take the place of this colleague and was sent out to the Far East. In about 1542, he landed in Goa and after having established his headquarters here, he went forth on his missionary work to the Far East. It is recorded that Francis Xavier visited Bassein Fort near Bombay on three occasions though he never reached Bombay. Francis Xavier also visited Coromandel (Travancore and Cochin) and Ceylon.

He was not quite happy with Malacca and there is a legend that Xavier, when leaving Malacca for the last time, shook the dust of the unrepentant city off his sandals against a rock near the shore, proclaiming that the city should not prosper again until the sea covered that stone. Francis Xavier and his Jesuits proceeded to the places discovered by the Portuguese and in Japan he converted thousands to Catholicism and was happy to mention in his reports that the Japanese were the best people who were yet discovered and that he could never find another race equal to the Japanese. They were people of very good manners, good in general and not malicious and that they were men of honour to a marvel and prized honour above all else in the world.

He made his last trip to the East to China where his health began to fail. Francis was not a strong man and was not physically suited for the hard missionary life of those days. The strain of his work overcame him and he died on a Friday, the 3rd December 1552, soon after reaching the island of Sancian (Shangchuan) at a young age of 46 years, his mission unaccomplished. Before dying he had asked his colleagues to have his body transported to Goa and buried there. Nothing was done about it and it is said the authorities at Goa were troubled by dreams of Francis Xavier entreating them to have his body brought to Goa. Legend has it that a crab picked up his crucifix and went into he sea and was caught in a fisherman’s net. The fisherman recognised the crucifix belonging to Francis Xavier and reported the matter to he Portuguese sailors. When news reached the authorities at Goa, arrangements were made to bring the remains of this missionary priest to Goa and it was when the body was being dug out that the first miracle occurred. Francis Xavier’s body had been buried in a lime pit. Normally, lime eats into the flesh and within a short period of time there is nothing left, except the clear white skeleton. The body of Francis Xavier was, however, as fresh and uncorrupted as it was on the day he died. It was transported to Goa.

In Rome many disbelievers disputed the truth of the many miraculous happenings that occurred from time to time. The Pope sent for an arm of the Saint and even before the blade could touch it, it severed itself from the body and fresh blood began to flow from the arm stub and the arm pit. When it was taken in the presence of the Pope and placed on a table, the arm picked up a pen in its fingers and signed the name of Francis Xavier on the parchment to the amazement of all those who were present. One over-pious lady bit off the Saint’s toe and took it home only to cause a fresh flow of blood from the toe, from the place of the body all the way to her home. The toe and the arm are now enshrined in Rome.

The miraculously preserved body of St. Francis Xavier lies, as though in sleep, now in a glass case which is placed in a silver casket and mounted high up on a marble altar in the Bom Jesus Cathedral at Old Goa.

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