Suicide and Suicide Prevention: What the Signs Are and Why People Hide Their Pain

Sarah El Nabulsi joins the ladies of Kalam Nawa3em after a celebrity death shocks the public — a person who seemed perfectly happy, giving no visible signs of struggle. She explains that suicidal ideation never happens suddenly; it builds gradually over time, but people learn to hide it. She connects this directly to Arab cultural norms: social behaviour rules in Arab societies function almost like religious law, and these expectations can suppress individuality, keep conversations surface-level, and discourage people from being transparent about their pain — allowing suffering to escalate silently. She outlines the key warning signs to watch for, and addresses a widely misunderstood statistic: suicide attempts are higher in women, but completed suicides are higher in men.