Did you know, more than 700 000 people die by suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds! Some of the leading causes of death by suicide are Mental Illnesses, Financial Instability, Relationships, Academic Pressure, and other mind-altering instances. Suicides have been around since humans have, but help wasn’t available until the early 2000s in developing countries like India and Brazil!. Suicide helplines provide telephonic counselling by trained volunteers, whose main purpose is to remove the idea of self-harm from one’s mind and provide guidance, empathy, and kindness towards an individual in distress. A similar service was first provided in England in the year 1951. Major (developed) countries have been providing such services since the mid- 1970s. Suicide helplines are crucial for suicidal people and their loved ones, taking advice/guidance from suicide helpline operators can help save multiple lives at once. One of the first recorded suicide was made in 585 B.C by a man named Periander who was considered one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece. Suicides have been an important part of history, Ajax the Great killed himself in the Trojan War; and during World War II, Japanese units would often fight to the last man rather than surrender. Military suicide is one of the major reasons why people refrain from enrolling themselves in the Army. Another revolutionary self-sacrifice was when Lucretia committed suicide in 510 B.C, which initiated the revolt that separated the Roman Kingdom from the Roman Republic. Honour suicide called ‘Seppuku’ is a ritual performed by Japanese warriors known as Samurais to avoid the shame of being held as a prisoner. Suicides are committed often in Japan to avoid shame and guilt. Suicide, the worst act of self-harm, is considered to be a crime in most countries. Countries like Cyprus, Yemen, UAE, Syria, Oman, Pakistan, Myanmar, and others have accounted the act of committing suicide as illegal. Physician-assisted suicide (active euthanasia) is an offence and is considered illegal in most of the countries around the world except Canada, Colombia, the USA (certain states), Belgium, Finland, Germany, and some other European countries. Aiding suicide is also a federal offence and can result in up to 15 years of imprisonment. A certain dark stigma is associated with the word ‘suicide’, and as a consequence of this, barely any help is provided to the suffering. Up until 2018 in India, most of the suicide helplines provided by the government were either switched off or nobody answered the phone, this changed when someone went through something extremely drastic and decided to change things. Aasra Foundation is available 24/7 to help anyone and everyone in need. They also work towards Suicide Prevention and other social causes. One of the biggest myths related to suicide is ‘talking about suicide might give her/him/them the idea of committing suicide themselves, well, let me prove you wrong. Talking about suicide doesn’t have a snowball effect on the person who is listening to anyone talk. It is not a sin nor is it cowardly to commit suicide, when a person takes this decision of ending themselves, think about the emotional turmoil and stress they might be suffering through and talk them through it. Reach out to someone or use the helplines provided. Professionals provide help to everyone related to the suicidal person and work towards avoiding that step altogether. I quote Barack Obama when I say, “To anyone out there who’s hurting- it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help, it’s a sign of strength.” Algeria Hotline: 0021 3983 2000 58 Argentina Hotline: 054 022 3493 0430 Australia Hotline: 1300 659 467 Canada Hotline: 1-800-784-2433 Germany Hotline: 08001810771 India Hotline: 91- 9820466726 Singapore Hotline: 1-767 Kenya Hotline: +254 20 3000378 Link of Suicide Helpines of other countries given below: https://www.suicidestop.com/call_a_hotline.html