Allegedly due to health problems, a member of the National Bureau of Investigation committed suicide inside their house in Brgy. Sablugon, Passi City, Iloilo on Wednesday morning.

Diagnosed with lung cancer, the 61-year-old Willy Lalantacon was found dead by his family; lying on the floor with a gunshot wound on the right portion of his head.

Lalantacon is a member of the fingerprinting unit of the agency and has also joined some NBI operations.

Inside his room, police found a calibre .357 revolver, believed to have been used by Lalantacon to end his life.

According to his family, Lalantacon was suffering from lung cancer and has already undergone chemotherapy.

Prior to the incident, the victim already expressed his plan to retire from the agency.

An autopsy examination was also conducted on the cadaver of the NBI official.

SUICIDE TREND

Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization, suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages.

Someone dies every 40 seconds because of suicide, based on the Current Worldwide Suicide Rate of WHO.

Recently, three unsuccessful suicide attempts were committed on one day in Iloilo.

Three men from different areas in the province were brought to Western Visayas Medical Center for trying to end their lives on April 15.

Niel, 21; from Maestravita, Oton tried to end his life by taking a pesticide.

Also from Oton but in different barangay, was the 48-year-old, Joel who was seen inside their home hanging with an electrical wiring on his neck.

While 39-year-old Al, from Pavia tried to end his life by cutting his wrist.

DRIVING FACTORS

According to psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Gellada, the most common cause of suicide is depression associated with hopelessness.

"They can't find a solution to a problem. In their mind, it is what they see as solution. It is anger directed towards one's self," he added.

Fr. Roy Cimagala, meanwhile, said that some people take their own lives away because they feel they are already at a dead-end, and there's nothing they can do to escape but to end their lives.

"When one is in this frame of mind, he is usually considered as not thinking properly, and therefore his responsibility diminishes," he said.

But he stressed that whatever the reason is, suicide is a grave sin and "only God can determine when life begins and ends on earth."

ILLNESS-RELATED

Meanwhile for those suffering from terminal illness like cancer, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss American psychiatrist, said that patients may usually suffer the five stages of grief.

The stages Kubler-Ross identified are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Denial is the stage where a person refuses to accept the reality. During anger stage, patients can be angry with themselves, or with others, especially those close to them.

At the bargaining stage, patient may be ready to face less serious trauma by trying to seek or to negotiate a compromise for their situation.

Patients then suffer from depression where they begin to accept reality but are emotionally down; and the stage where most people commit suicide.

And lastly, though hard, there are those who try to accept their illness or the acceptance stage.

Cimagala said that depressed persons should talk to someone they can trust, to confide their problems with that person. "They should avoid being alone. They have to be accompanied always and shown a lot of affection and understanding."*with reports from TNT Magazine