Blame rising suicides on deficient mental health infrastructure

A TV actress ended her life on Saturday, reportedly after a break-up in relationship. Rising film star Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide on June 14, 2020. Media reports had attributed his reasons for suicide to symptoms of clinical depression. A Google search reveals that 13 celebrities died by suicide during the last three years.

This is just the tip of the giant iceberg of suicides that remain invisible. Newspapers in India’s metropolitan cities invariably carry news of a couple of such incidents on a daily basis. And these are not about individuals driven to self-killing due to economic deprivation, financial distress or miserable living conditions. They come from affluent and well-placed families. About eight lakh people die by suicide annually worldwide.

Of these, India accounts for nearly 20% deaths. According to National Crime Record Bureau figures, 164,033 Individual committed suicide in 2021. The World Health Organisation has termed suicide as an emerging and serious health issue in India. It is widely believed that official data is not all that credible and does not reflect the actual deaths.

A study published by The Lancet magazine had projected 187,000 suicides in 2010 while the official figures put the deaths by suicides at 134,600. States in the eastern and southern regions report higher incidence of suicides than the poorer northern states. Similarly, more men commit suicide than women. Family problems, sickness, alcohol or drug abuse, marriage related issues and love affairs are reasons for 60 per cent of the suicides.

In terms of age, suicides among 18-30 and 31-45 age groups together accounted for 67 per cent of suicides. Though suicides are personal decisions and individual acts, it is social factors that lead to suicidal behavior. According to official data, while the reason for suicide is not known in about 43 per cent of suicides, sickness and family issues are responsible for 44 per cent of them. This is where it needs to be studied as a social malady.

And going by media reports, it is not difficult to glean that divorce, dowry, love affairs, cancellation or inability to get married, pregnancies due to illicit affairs, extra-marital affairs and conflicts arising out of such issues and disputes are the major causative factors. While more women die due to domestic violence, among men, financial distress plays a dominant part. Suicides in rural areas are majorly caused due to failure in debt servicing and harassment by moneylenders.

The competition to do well in competitive exams and failure to achieve desired goals finds a correlationship with self-inflicted death in the 18-25 age group of men. Rapid urbanization, industrialization, changed contours of families and deficient support system in the Indian context have resulted in social upheaval and mental distress among individuals. No wonder then that metros report most such deaths.

The transformation of urban life has not seen a commensurate emphasis on addressing emotional and mental health issues in India. For a population reaching the 1,400 million mark, the mental health infrastructure is still rudimentary—only 3,500 psychiatrists. There exist few counseling centres for individuals seeking emotional help and a soothing touch. Perhaps NGOs have a role and more of them need to intervene in kindling hope among suicidal individuals.