Mental health is highlighted lately on a global level. Till date conditions related to the brain were not much looked upon and were rather shunned or overlooked. Suicide is considered a part of depression and mental stress related symptoms. Every country is working rapidly to control the situation and create awareness about mental well-being.
With these things going on, an average of 381 deaths by suicide daily was reported in India in 2019, amounting to 1,39,123 fatalities in the year, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data revealed.A 3.4 per cent increase was observed in suicides during 2019 (1,39,123 suicides) as compared to 2018 (1,34,516) and 2017 (1,29,887), the data revealed.The NCRB data further stated that the suicide rate in cities (13.9 per cent) was higher as compared to the all-India suicide rate (10.4 per cent) in 2019.The NCRB data further revealed that the rate of suicide (incidents per 1 lakh population) rose by 0.2 per cent in 2019 over 2018.
Looking at the causes, family problems (other than marriage-related issues) were behind 32.4 per cent of suicides, marriage-related problems (5.5 per cent) and illness (17.1 per cent) together accounted for 55 per cent of the total suicides. The study also revealed the methods used which were
suicide- by hanging’ (53.6 per cent), consuming poison (25.8 per cent), drowning (5.2 per cent) and self-immolation (3.8 per cent) were the prominent means of committing suicides in the year.
Analyzing the gender study, “For every 100 suicide deaths, 70.2 were male and 29.8 females the NCRB data added. It further revealed that nearly 68.4 per cent of the male victims were married, whereas the ratio was 62.5 per cent for female victims.
Statewise, Maharashtra tops the list with almost 18,916 cases followed by 13,493 in Tamil Nadu, 12,665 in West Bengal, 12,457 in Madhya Pradesh, and 11,288 in Karnataka, accounting for 13.6 per cent, 9.7 per cent, 9.1 per cent, 9 per cent and 8.1 per cent of total such deaths, respectively. A change in the data was the fact that Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, reported a comparatively lower percentage share of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 3.9 per cent of the total suicides in the country. Lately, many cases are being highlighted in the media with many prominent TV personalities like Anupama Pathak, Sameer Sharma also committing the act. With the lockdown in motion amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the cases have seen a surge. To control the situation, many helpline numbers and NGOs have been set up which focuses on helping people with suicidal tendencies.
