Encomium

I am not a psychologist. I have only been studying rhetoric for half a semester, so I certainly do not consider myself a professional rhetor. Still, in the need to praise someone for using rhetoric for the assignment, I will take a chance and use myself.

In the last month, I have been faced with situations beyond my control. When a family member, lets call them #1, of mine broke down, attempted suicide, and ended up in the hospital under lock down for 72 hours, the only thing I could do was hold on for the ride. In the process of analyzing the situation unfolding around me, watching how other family members reacted - or pretended not to - I saw an opportunity to use what I have been learning this semester to try and do something to change the direction  #1, and those around her, were headed towards. 

I started off with some research on the subject - causes, what to do, how to help, etc. I even made a call to a suicide hot line, something I never ever thought I'd need to do, and asked questions I thought I'd never ask. I began communicating with my parents, and other family members, to let them know what I had learned. The main issue, I saw, was the misunderstanding of why anyone would do something like attempt suicide, for the 3rd time at that. This is where I understood that logic and suicide do not go hand in hand, and a logical thinker could not begin to actually understand something as illogical as a suicide attempt. I used this realization as my solid weapon.

I made a plan. The goal was to convince #1 to get help. My next goal was to make sure her immediately family members were educated in the subject. I formulated questions, and sub questions that would initiate answers that would guide #1 into a way of thinking, different than her own, since it led to drastic measures. Although this was not the first suicide attempt, it was a first time someone attempted to convince her otherwise, sad but true. So I used every rhetorical device I could conjure up. It was a kairotic situation, I presented questions much like stasis theory to guide #1 into a mind frame of logic, and can only continue to communicate.  After all, rhetoric is an essential communication device.  Who knows what will happen, but just opening up a discourse in the subject, and with family, has widened everyone's perspective who was effected by the event.  

I guess this is more of a praise for rhetoric in general, and all the unexpected places one can find a time to use it.