Socialogy of suicide

The famous sociologist Emil Durkheim has divided suicides into three categories. These are Altruistic, egoistic and anomie types.
Altruistic suicides occur when a person is too much integrated in to an ideology (which may be a correct or wrong choice). The psychology of suicide bombers and martyrs belong to this type. Here a person sacrifices himself for a cause which he believes is important.
Egoistic suicides occur when a person is too much engrossed with his own ideas and fails to integrate himself with the rest of the society. Such suicides are infrequent. One example I can think of occurred in Kerala around 5 years ago. A retired school teacher called Thomas master ended his life at Pavaratty in Thrissur district of Kerala. He had earlier filed a petition before the High Court of Kerala seeking permission to end his life. His children had grown up and were living separately. After the death of his beloved wife, he became increasingly lonely and decided to end his life. But as suicide is a crime in Indian law, this former teacher did not want to break any law; hence his petition in the court. But the honourable court refused permission and he decided to kill himself. His last note stated that he is finally 'ending his life like a coward, and that he is ashamed at his plight, but says he had no other choice as courts did not understand him'. Imagine the plight of a catholic, living among other staunch believers, and requesting permission to kill himself. His fellow catholics and the church were unsympathetic to him and deserted him after he filed the petition. This is a case of egoistic suicide. It had struck me very much; as a mental health professional and as a human being;hence I am able to narrate all this from my memory.
Anomie is a state of social disintegration. Suicides become common in such a state as people lose faith in the existing system and even the social values. I think the epidemic of suicide among farmers belong to this category. Farmers are left out of the main stream of social fabric, though leaders shed crocodile tears for them from their rooftops. They might be feeling that the existing economic system helps only to make them huge debtors. whatever relief measures materialise after long delays. This is why many commit suicide.
One should also bear in mind the fact that whatever be antecedent causes, many persons who ultimately kill themselves are in a state of clinical depression. If some interventions or mental health care was provided at this stage, at least some of these deaths could have been avoided.