Introduction
Mental disorders and their effects on the lives of their victims are normally a puzzle to many people. Many people wonder why such disorders affect their victims. Research has answered many of these concerns.
There are a number of causes of mental problems. One such cause is early separation. It has been identified as one of the main causes of mental problems, and other repercussions like suicide. When such separation occurs, a child who is not well taken care of can potentially succumb to mental problems, which can, in turn, act as a motivation for suicide.
Thus people who have experienced separation during their childhood are prone to the development of a variety of psychological problems, like the bipolar disorder, which are increase the risk of committing suicide. This paper is an in-depth analysis of the psychological effects of early separation in childhood, the long term effects that this separation has on the mental health of its victim, and the suicide risk that comes with such separation.
How early separation leads to suicide
As stated above, researchers and psychologists have observed a connection between early disappointments in life, and suicide tendencies. People who have experienced nasty experiences during their childhood, like separation from loved ones tend to be more suicidal than their counterparts who have had an uneventful childhood/life.
This has been the case with teenagers and young adults who lose both or one of their parents at a young age. These people will most probably grow up blaming most of their failures to the fact that they do not have both parents like their fellow teenagers. With this kind of a mindset, they tend t have low self esteem, which is a factor that can be associated with suicidal thoughts. As such a person goes on with his/her day-to-day activities he/she does not have an idea that he/she can be pushed emotionally to commit or even attempt suicide.
However, and as stated, the person develops a disposition that makes it very easy for him/her to commit suicide. Some of the characteristics of such a person may include the aforementioned low self esteem, social problems which can be viewed as a result of low self esteem, bipolar disorder- which will be discussed later in this paper, and even lack of self control [1]. Thus people who have had a tumultuous, or stressful, childhood, like being separated from their parents by death, are more likely to commit suicide than their counterparts who had had a peaceful childhood.
Another example of the impact that separation can have on the mental health of a person who has experienced the same is the defensive character, and overly-reactive character that is often developed by children whose parents have divorced. After a divorce, the children may be forced to live with one parent with minimal interactions with the other parent. This makes children get the feeling that the other parent has abandoned them.
This is in spite of the fact that the effect of divorce on children is highly dependent on the kind of life that the parents live after divorce. Thus if one parents withdraws from seeing and taking care of the children, the children may develop a feeling of abandonment which could make them to live their lives blaming themselves for their parents’ divorce. A young girl may develop the feeling that she is not pretty enough, or she was not obedient enough to sustain her parents’ marriage [2]. This will obviously lead to esteem issues which are a leading cause of suicides.
Surprisingly, studies have shown that even babies as old as a few months old may be affected by separation. Research has shown that children who do not breastfeed their mothers often grow to develop a retracted character. Normally develop to have social problems, which in turn aggravate the problem if the victim is not treated early enough. In this case, the individual will be unable to know the real reason why he/she has developed an antisocial disposition, but it is difficult for the victim to lead a normal life.
Later in life, when such a people face seemingly insurmountable problems, they tend to avoid them, and thus they do not get always seek problem resolution. This makes the victim develop a defeated attitude that is the chief reason why neglect can potentially lead to suicide. In the same way, children who are raised by foster parents tend to be more emotional than their counterparts being raised by their parents. Foster parents are therefore forced to be extra-careful in the way they talk to, and relate to these children.
This is an indication that the neglect which they undergo in order for them to be taken to foster parents has an effect on their mental health. They may grow with the feeling that no one cares enough for them, which may make them hate people to some extent. Some of them may even develop anti-social characters due to the feeling that no one cares, and the possible mentality that other people are better than them [2]. Such people tend to be more suicidal than other children who are raised by their parents.
Bipolar disorder
Related to early childhood separation, and among the common causes of suicide is the bipolar disorder. It is a condition in which a person experiences periods of extreme happiness, and periods of extreme depression [3]. These are dependent on what the person is going through and they deviate from the normally levels of excitement and stress.
The person therefore responds in a wild manner to exciting things, and he/she is excessively affected by stressful conditions. These periods of over-excitement and depression normally affect the person’s daily life like school and work. This may lead to more depression, which makes the person suffering from this disorder emotionally unstable, and able to harm perpetrate self harm.
Bipolar disorder can be used to explain the motivation behind a number of suicides. As stated above, a victim of bipolar disorder is unreasonably affected by stress. Small amounts of stress can make the person succumb to depression, making it very easy for such a person to commit suicide. Additionally, a person suffering from the bipolar disorder is more likely to have an unpredictable academic or career life. This makes him/her prone to major failures which may make him/her even more depressed.
These failures may be low academic performance; inability to maintain healthy professional relationships, which may lead to loss of job, inability to maintain a healthy love-life, which may exacerbate depression, etcetera [3]. All these are reasons why a number of people suffering from bipolar disorder have committed suicide.
From the above discussion, it is apparent that the diagnosis and treatment of the bipolar disorder should be undertaken with urgency once its signs have exhibited themselves. This is because failure to treat this disorder will most likely lead to more loss for the victim, and more depression. Worse still, this may lead to suicide.
Conclusion
Childhood separation is a factor that can be, confidently, associated with suicide. Once a child fails to get the parental love at a young age, the child will most probably develop emotional and social problems, which will ultimately translate to mental problems. If the mental problems are not treated early enough, their effects on the life of the victim continually worsen.
This may lead to a situation where the victim feels that he/she can take no more, which may, in turn lead to suicide. To exemplify this, a good number of suicide victims either have social problems, mental problems, a history of separation from their parents, and other related problems. Even if a child has to live without his/her parents, like in the case of death, it is of essence that the child is accorded the necessary love, and taken care of.
This is because failure to do so would lead to problems which may prove to be costlier than taking care of the child in the first place. In case a child is not lucky to get the required care, and ends up developing the aforementioned problems, it is of essence that interventions are sought to treat the victim. This is because worse problems like suicide may result from the mental problems.
Reference List
- Lesage, A. (1995). History of early loss among a group of suicide survivors. The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, Vol. 16, Issue. 3, pp. 121-125.
- Conner K. (2000). Domestic violence, separation, and suicide in young men with early onset alcoholism: reanalysis of Murphy’s data. University of Rochester.
- Yatham, L. (2010). Bipolar Disorder: Clinical and Neurobiological Foundations. West Sussex, U.K. John Wiley & Sons.