Suicide is a social construct that is caused due to deviation from norms that are in a disapproved direction and exceed the tolerant limits for an individual. Suicide is widely widespread not only in Ghizer but in all the parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. The conformity to society for an individual is based on potential gains and losses. We constantly feel dissatisfied which is not due to biological longings but the social norms that regulate us to what extent we are entitled.

Suicide has no geographical divisions. It is the socially manifested phenomenon that is executed in the form of unsettled expectations in any social milieu. When a person finds no institutional means to fulfil the desired expectations of society he/she normally deviates from the socially approved norms. The rising notions of success and attribution to wealth for prosperity unsettled the expectations of those who couldn’t cope with this definition of success in life. Society provides the expectations and goals which are culturally defined. In the wider society of Gilgit-Baltistan due to the acculturation of the dominated culture from the tourists and tourism the expectations of the people psychologically subscribed to high goals but the gap between the goals and institutional means provided to the youngsters are at odd relations which ties them to deviation and suicide.

Moving forward the average person is anchored in an extensive network of close attachments in society. If this social integration erodes the individual, commitment to the societal norms becomes less extensive. According to the Social Control Theory, the commitment and involvement of any person in society is the shield that protects them from any kind of deviance. Suicide is a deviant form of emotional deflection. As some people have fewer stakes in society they are less attached and subscribed to societal order. The involvement can be understood through the utility of the individual in the energy and time. The people have fewer involving activities in their lives which further deteriorate their social control. In Pakistan, the popular culture of the social network spaces and warfare of likes and comments on social media faded the concept of creative involvement in games, art, and literature which causes the tendencies of individuals to social comparison and misfit in the dominated culture. This psychological failure to cope with self-perception causes people to have suicidal ideation.

The strict stratification in society based on resources is another reason for the rising suicide. The structural strain by Edwin Sutherland forced that strain on the resources causing different interpretations of life for different people. This vast heterogeneity in the expectations from society led them to deviance which further paves way for suicide. Torn between guilt and desire ultimately leads to escape from the unfulfilled expectations.

Suicide is the systematic process in which we make an individual suicidal. The institutionalization of the taboos and shame culture with mental health issues is the core reason why the person ailed with mental disorders does not subscribe to the professional aid to cope with the psychological disorders. We have developed a culture where we used to attribute mental issues to demons, spirits, supernatural, or paranormal activities. In this process, individuals tend to sham which provides medical religious treatment. During this process, the chronicity is exacerbated and people incline toward more tendencies toward suicide. Mental health issues are like normal diseases of flu, cough, fever, and diabetes but society has attached the stigma to mental health issues which causes them to not go to any professional for treatment.

MUHAMMAD WAJAHAT SULTAN,

Lahore.