SUICIDE - will it ever be tackled to its extreme?

[DaSilva]

I see things like rabies and/or AIDS as a disease....

[Oxidizer]

I see things like rabies and/or AIDS as a disease....

Same here.

[cupidbutterflyangel]

What Mercury_Girl put up is one of the many definitions of disease. There is still some debate but for the most part those that work in mental health see Depression as a disorder/illness/disease. Each term has a slightly different meaning but all can relate to abnormalities in the brain/mind. Disease is a very broad term and does not mean something is contagious. Many forms of mental illness have been linked to chemical imbalances in the brain which fits in perfectly with the definition of disease.

[cupidbutterflyangel]

I just think saying its a disease adds to the stigma.

This may be so but it might also help the cause rather than hinder. If the idea that it is a disease, just like cancer is understood, beliefs that it is "all in the head" and that a person can "snap out of it" will be challenged and real progress towards acceptance will be made. It would also help with funding as Professor Ian Hickie has pointed out many times in recent years.

[alexx]

Diseases you can catch (not all of them) - I doubt you can catch depression. Depression can only be triggered (by whatever events/traumas).

I could image you could ‘catch’ depression (not literally) if you are exposed to it in someone for a long period of time, say a father or mother could become severely depressed because they are surrounded by it in their daughter or son is…I guess it would depend entirely on how close they are to them, or how strong minded you are.

[Guest]

Why do People Do Suicide? what effects dose Suicide have on others? I really dont understand the meaning of Suicide?

[Jess]

I guess people commit suicide when they feel that their lives are so awful that they can't carry on, when dying seems the only way to escape their misery.

I think it's really sad that people feel that their lives are so bad that they can't carry on, but IMO it's a lot worse for the people that they leave behind. At least when you commit suicide, your pain and suffering is over. But for the people that are left behind, they have to deal with the fact that someone really hated their life and that they possibly didn't notice it or feel that they did enough to help.

I think that suicide in itself would be a great issue to tackle on the show, if it was done in the right way and handled sensitively. However, with the current style of "loose" storylines and characters that seem to forget about events, and each other, at the drop of a hat, I don't think that it would be good for the show to do such a storyline at this point in time.

[willow2]

Im 50/50 on this subject.At the moment although i love home and away but i have to say this, its not strong/brave enough to tackle a subject like this.Many examples are dani/kane what started as a rape storyline then turned into attack, tracy/zoe they couldnt even explain there relationship total stupidity on the writers part.Suicide is a delicate matter it effects lots of families/friends etc and for people to sit down and watch home and away try to tackle it and then cop-out wouldnt be proper, especially people who have lost loved ones to this sublect.My opinion to the writers of home and away would be, if your going to do somthing do it wright or else dont bother.