Many things had to go wrong for a suicide to happen and there was no single, simple reason for it, said Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, founder, Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre, adding that rejection and shame, when self-esteem was at the lowest, were the strongest reasons for suicide by a youngster in India. She was speaking at a virtual discussion conducted recently by the Press Institute of India and the UNICEF State Office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the subject, Don’t Let Suicide Catch Them Young.Every year, upwards of 130000 Indians died of suicide, Dr
Vijayakumar pointed out, with the majority of suicides happening among the
young. She said it was a huge public health problem that must be addressed. She
added that calls to the Sneha helpline had increased during the pandemic. She
urged the media to portray suicides with sensitivity – when it was showed that
people could solve problems, suicides had been found to reduce, she said.
“Unconditional acceptance is important without being judgmental. You need to
make sure the person chooses life instead of death.”
Senior psychiatrist Dr N. Rangarajan said people in the
younger age group were under a lot of pressure, with their confidence being
undermined by several factors – academic pressure, the pressure to excel, for
example. He said more people were willing today to come and talk about their
mental problems and more were willing to take medicines. Although there was a
lot of “family time” now thanks to COVID, parents tended to get impatient with
children and were not able to cope, and children were now being exposed to
abusive behaviour at home, he said.
Bino Thomas, associate professor, NIMHANS, referred to the
psychological aspect that led to suicides, what he termed as a “diagnostic
mental illness at the time of committing suicide” – the lack of ability to
solve problems, having to cope with rejection and being afraid of mental issues
as such. Awareness wasn’t enough to help tackle stigma, he said. Thomas advised
visiting a psychologist for a mild form of depression and a psychiatrist for
severe depression and lack of sleep. Medical intervention was necessary when
there were suicidal tendencies, he said.
Aarti C. Rajaratnam, psychologist and founder, Million
Smiles, stressed that listening to the person having a problem and guiding them
through the process was the most important. “There is helplessness,
hopelessness. They are looking for somebody to hold them by the hand,” she
said, pointing to the need for “compassionate empathy”. “For 18 months we did
not allow children to connect, what can one expect?” she asked, referring to
online classes. “Online class is about connection, not content,” she said, “and
restorative processes are important.”
Ragini Srinivasan, counsellor, said it was important that
various caregivers worked together and supported each other, with therapy and
medication being two parts of the whole solution. She alluded to change in
behaviour and social withdrawal as warning signs and urged parents to notice
such signs in children when they started showing up.
Aaryyan Aathreya, a student of law, said the COVID pandemic
had helped him to bring things in perspective. Students missing out on school
and college years were making it difficult for them. He flagged the need to
decriminalise suicide.
Dr Vijayakumar said her organisation was working to
decriminialise suicide the past several years, adding that in only 20 countries
in the world was ‘attempted suicide’ a criminal offence. She said that the
majority of suicides in India happened in rural areas where mental health
services were not present.
The discussion was moderated by advocate and columnist Sanjay
Pinto.
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