Stress on preventive steps to help stop suicides

The spate of suicides in the city, including the 10 reported over Friday and Saturday, is a cause of concern. Medical and psychological experts have underlined the need for educational institutions and workplaces to take preventive measures to stop people from committing suicide.

According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), as against every reported case of suicide, there are at least 10 attempt to commit suicide cases. And, the number of those contemplating suicide is not known.

NIMHANS has, in its study report, termed suicide as a public health issue. The report underlines the need for recognising those with suicidal tendencies the symptoms of which include loss of interest in work or studies, disturbed sleep, and increased inclination to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.

Rani Shetty, counsellor at Parihar that runs the helplines at the Police Commissioner’s office, underlined the need to identify why any person has suicidal tendency. “As there are multiple causes of suicides, chalking out one single measure for prevention of suicides is not the solution,” she said. She also said that there was a need for all educational institutes and workplaces to have a full-time counsellor to address the issue.

According to Ms. Rani Shetty, there is a rise in the number of adolescents showing suicidal tendencies. “Many adolescents call the helpline and express their desire to commit suicide over trivial issues,” she added.

According to the Police, 2,033 unnatural deaths were reported in 2013. The number of suicides among these cases is yet to be tallied. As per statistics provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,989 suicide cases were reported in Bangalore in 2012. Also, Bangalore accounted for 10 per cent of the 19,120 suicides reported in 88 cities during the year. This is a 15.8 per cent increase compared to 2011 when the number of suicides stood at 1,717.

The highest number of suicides in 2012 was reported in Chennai (2,183). The four metro cities — Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai — contribute to about 35 per cent of the number of suicides reported in 88 cities.

Additional Commissioner (Crime) Pronab Mohanty said that it is difficult to attribute the 10 suicides reported over two days to any one reason.

“The incidence of 10 suicides over Friday and Saturday could be just a coincidence and no pattern can be determined when we look at the profiles of the dead persons,” he said.