Decision to End your Life is Never Easy

Chronic fatigue syndrome is an ailment characterized by extreme tiredness that cannot be related to any underlying mental cause. Often, the fatigue gets worse after mental or physical activity. CFS is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME (Brues, 2013). Often there is contention about the two terms; however, many scientists refer to is as CFS/ME. People suffering from this ailment often suffer a wide range of symptoms. They vary from headaches, sore throat, dizziness, heart palpitations, sleep problems, muscle and joint pain and problems with concentration. The cause of this disease is unknown. However, several causes have been theorized to cause it.  These include hormonal imbalance, mental health problems, low immune system, bacteria infection such as pneumonia and viral infections (Sandoiu, 2017). Additionally, genes also seem to be a critical cause as well.

Recent studies published in the Lancet medical journal indicate that there is a correlation between the disease and incidence of suicide. Suicide is a common phenomenon when dealing with mental health issues, which is a potential cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. The findings show that persons suffering from CFS are six times more probable to commit suicide than those who did not have the disease. This number is significant.  The study, which was conducted over a seven-year period with more than 2000 participants, led to these findings (Kupar, 2016). However, many scientists claim that the data here is merely statistical and does not indicate whether the suicide is as a result of the disease itself or other ailments that come as a result of the condition.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that there is a correlation between the disease and incidence of suicide among its patients (Kupar, 2016). This report seeks to explore the causes of suicide in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and possible remedies that can significantly reduce the number of people who use this channel to alleviate their suffering.

The decision to take one’s life is never an easy one. It comes from feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness from not being able to enjoy the pleasures of life as one is supposed to. It is difficult for the general population to understand the ongoing thoughts and processes in the mind of a suicidal person before they get to take their lives (Fisher, 2015). This lack of understanding does not take away the fact that these people indeed suffer the grave indignity of finding a way to escape from the pain and obscurity engulfing their lives by seeking out death as the ultimate solution.

According to McManimen (2016), persons with chronic fatigue syndrome have an elevated risk of suicide compared with the general population. Moreover, they have an earlier mortality as compared to patients with terminal diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. This study analyzed the death of 56 ME patients. The resultant data indicated that while the average age for suicide in America was 47.4, those with ME had an average of 41.3. Of all the patients in the study, a significant 26.8 percent died from suicide.

These findings indicate that indeed this ailment elevates the risk for suicide. Moreover, it was found that the risk of suicide was higher in male patients than in females. The difference between the two genders mirrors the general population (McManimen, 2016).

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