The Ethics of Suicidal Practices and Living Good Lives of People Living with Depression in Sai Mhok Community, Yala
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Abstract
Within the mainstream ontology of suicide, the phenomenon of suicide is usually explained in pathological terms as an individual’s illness or a societal ailment. However, the practice of committing suicide itself has not been seriously investigated or well understood, which has led to the disregard of other possible contributing factors within the multidimensional ‘ontology of suicide’. This research article has adopted the framework of ontological approach and ethics of care that give importance to the practicalities and relationality of suicide, in terms of how suicidality begins and its enactment within the relationship network between depressed individuals and caretakers.
This research investigated the suicidal practices of people with depression in the Sai Mhok community (a fictitious name), Yala, by conducting a field study and interviewing five families in order to gather suicide-related stories from people with depression. The results revealed that, within the ontology of suicide of depressed people, suicide may not be the endpoint of life or an act of destruction; rather, the enactment of suicidal practices unfolded as a moral struggle that opened up new possibilities for imagining a good life amidst complicated life conditions and the resources they had. As a result, the act of suicide transpired in a variety of forms, such as creating the image of a good child, repaying a debt of gratitude, reparation of a relationship, negotiation of power, maintenance of an identity, or even withdrawal from a world where they felt alienation and antagonism.
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สัมภาษณ์
Job, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022.
Na Tang, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022
Mae Fah, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022
Wit, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022
Nueng, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022
Heng, (a fictitious name), personal communication, September 2021 – April 2022