World Suicide Prevention Awareness Day: Talk suicides
Going by this year’s theme — ‘creating hope through action’ — there is a need to weed out multifaceted stigmas around suicide and normalise conversation around it
Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. It is a serious health problem. Every year, globally, around 8,00,000 people die from suicide. This number is almost twice the number of deaths from homicide.
According to WHO, approximately one million people die by suicide each year worldwide, that is about one death every 40 seconds or 3,000 per day. And these figures may be under-reported due to the nature of the stigma attached to the word suicide. It is also still illegal in some countries.
Why do we not talk about suicide enough?
The negative connotation attached to suicide is multifaceted:
✵ Medical: Suicide almost sounds like a morbid disease which is not to be discussed. People tend to presume that they will never ever face this condition, and hence choose to not be informed about it.
✵ Legal: Suicide is considered illegal and punishable even now in more than 15 countries around the world. No wonder the undertone of a 'crime' is attached to suicide.
✵ Societal: A family who has lost a loved one to suicide often faces the wrath of society, as if the deficiency in their love, care and upbringing had brought upon the deceased to take this step.
✵ Cultural and religious: Most religions frown upon suicide as a rejection of life and consider it a sin.
✵ Media and movies: The representation of suicide in popular media is misleading to a great degree and can be damming. The language around the usage of the phrase "committed suicide" is still used by mainstream media and newspapers, and can cause one to think this is a choice and a crime. Movies too often have an unkind, condescending or funny description of suicide in order to scintillate the viewer. No wonder, people may consider self-harm as an act of attention seeking.
Pre-suicide signs
✵ Verbal: Citing that one is helpless, hopeless, tired and wants to give up. Clearly stating that they would rather die.
✵ Non–verbal (behavioural): Tying up loose ends, saying goodbyes, going into a shell, depressive features, coping with drugs.
✵ Others: Google searches around suicide, procuring aids for suicide, sleep, and appetite changes.
The theme this year
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is celebrated annually on September 10 each year, and this year's theme is 'Creating hope through action'.
The Indian scenario
Our country had an alarming estimate of over 1.6 lakh reported suicides in 2021 — a staggering 7.2 per cent increase above last year's figure, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The states and UTs like Kerala, Puducherry and Sikkim have the highest suicide rates, and it is the four megacities — Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai — that together account for more than a third of the total suicides in the country.
Leaders and policymakers come up with solutions ranging from frivolous ones like removing fans off the ceilings to more applicable ones like Tamil Nadu recently banning the selling of rat poison.
Decriminalization of suicide: The legal system has undergone a much-needed overhaul by countering the strict section 309 of the IPC. Earlier, it was punishable with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with a fine, or both to anyone who attempted to die by suicide. But the introduction of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 has revamped it to: "Unless proven otherwise, a person attempting to die by suicide is considered to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code."
Stigma: Our society still carries a huge stigma towards anyone who speaks openly about grappling with the issue of self-harm and suicide. The word "committed suicide" is used loosely without an attempt at understanding the sensitivity of it. Suicide awareness campaigns are requested to be done in a hush-hush manner in order to not trigger sensitive people, citing that awareness adds to the idea of implanting suicide in people's minds.
Helplines: The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment launched 'Kiran' 1800-599-0019 — a toll-free 24x7 mental health helpline — in September 2020 to help individuals in need of mental health support
What can you do?
Be informed. Normalize conversation around suicide. Don't spread myths. Help someone. Don't shy away from finding help for yourself if you are in distress.
Send your questions to help@dreradutta.com
