The killer within

The trauma of being detected HIV positive, the horror of failing an examination, poverty, failed crops and debts are pushing people to the brink, forcing families into suicide pacts, students to hang themselves and farmers to consume poison.

The figures first. The all India suicide rate (number of suicides per lakh of population) in 1998 was 10.8. Pondicherry topped the list with 50.4, with Andaman and Nicobar Islands coming in second at 37. Kerela, the state most associated with suicides is third on the list with 29.3, followed by Karnataka (21.4).

Other states which seem to be edging their way up on the list include West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Among the Union Territories, Delhi reported 982 cases of suicides, the highest number between 1996 and 1998. Other states which have reported a significant rise in the number of suicides in 1998 over 1997 include Mizoran (193.3 per cent), Manipur (130.8 per cent) and Chandigarh (79.2 per cent).

While it has taken the Bureau two years to collate data gathered in 1998, they say the trends indicated in the report hold true even today.

Now the facts. Doctors and social workers say there’s little doubt that suicides are on the rise. “Increasing figures mean that more cases are being reported,” says Dr Achal Bhagat, director of the non-governmental organisation Saarthak. “The most alarming and definitive trend is the increase in suicides in the age group of 13 and 25. Other than stress, there are several mental health issues related to this.”

While poverty, failed crops and debts have been the traditional causes for suicides, today terminal illness and lack of medical facilities are driving people to early deaths.

According to the report, in 1998, trends indicated that suicides due to illicit relations, bankruptcy, illness and family problems were on the rise. What is more alarming is that there has been a 209 per cent increase in suicide cases due to AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, 52.5 per cent due to hero worshipping and 49.5 per cent due to professional and career problems in 1998 as opposed to 1997.

Suniti Solomon of Chennai based NGO YRG Care, which primarily works in the field of HIV/AIDS, says: “Social non-acceptance is the biggest cause for increase in suicides due to illness. Counselling and consent before tests alone can save so many lives. What this trend actually indicates is that health services and society’s outlook are the main causes for these deaths.”

Bhagat adds, “Terminal illness is a main cause because of the stigma and grief attached to it. For example, AIDS programmes are so focussed on spreading information and prevention that the patients suffering from the problem are neglected. Nobody deals with them and their trauma. They are driven to commit suicide.”

Experts point out that mental health of people needs to be looked at very seriously. According to them, it is a given that 15 to 20 per cent of people suffering from depression are suicidal and 10 per cent of alcholics too. But no support systems makes it difficult for them to deal with the problem.

Tele counselling, the one network that has managed to reach out to people, also has its limitations. Completely ignoring the urban poor, these services only cater to people who have access to a telephone and can speak either Hindi or English. And for those who have had the benefit of treatment at a mental health institution, rehabilitation becomes the issue. Everyone else is either struggling to come to terms with their trauma or are choosing to die.

The report has thrown up a few new figures, but also lists down all the age-old reasons for suicide. Even today, dowry disputes drive many young women to take the extreme step, unemployed youth constitute a huge chunk of the statistics and family problems add to the numbers.

The numbers are on record now, but experts feel that it is the solutions that need to be looked at. “The figures tell us just one part of the story,” says Solomon. “The other part, about health care, the economics of the whole thing and support systems need to be looked at.”

Every suicide is the story of one person who didn’t get help that experts say needs to be at hand. “Put mental well being on the agenda” is the advice experts hope everyone will take seriously.