Sin, Sickness, or Social Issue?

Discourses on Suicide in the 20th Century Philippines

Abstract

It is commonly held that stigma against suicide in the Philippines results from religious and cultural ideas about suicide and mental health. These ideas often suggest that suicide is caused by a lack of prayer and fortitude and that, overall, mental health is considered a modern problem, addressed primarily by youth. By contrast, movements for mental health awareness and suicide prevention tend to be young and urban in orientation, as they are primarily led by millennial urban professionals and students, and primarily aim to address the aforementioned religious and cultural misconceptions about mental health and to present a medicalized view of suicide. However, these religious and cultural ideas about suicide have roots in a long tradition of Filipino discourse on suicide, as is also the case with present-day movements for mental health awareness. The religious view of suicide as a sin or weakness has not historically been the sole historical discourse on the subject, and attempts to ‘raise awareness’ of suicide as a medical and social issue are in fact longstanding. This article analyses discourses on suicide in a variety of 20th century English-language Philippine periodicals, academic journals, and books, exemplifying urban, middle-class discourse, and identifies multiple streams of thought: the religious view of suicide, accompanied by views of suicide as a problem brought about by urbanity and the loss of idyllic rural life, as well as multiple views of suicide as both a medical and social issue. These included pointing to social, cultural, and environmental causes for suicide, such as teachers’ dismissiveness and parents’ harshness, as well as prescribing ‘cures’ for suicide, such as friendship, and the production of medical and anthropological studies on suicide. In light of this complex historical background, this article proposes directions for advancing mental health and suicide awareness beyond both religious and medicalised orientations toward a more holistic and socially grounded understanding of mental health.