World Suicide Prevention Day: Identify the suicidal - Psychiatrists

Bengaluru: "Something terrible had happened, and I had begun to hate the world. I denied myself the comfort of self-acceptance, and attempted suicide six years ago. A few kind souls rescued me from the doors of death," says 30-year-old Sujata (name changed). "I received a lot of love and support from my family and two close friends. This started me back on the journey of healing. Here I am now, sure about what I want and what I am," she says. Sujata has not only survived the disorder, but has also come out of constantly nursing thoughts of suicide.

Though Bengaluru is among the top metros in the country on number suicides, it also has a large number of survivors who have come out of the vicious circle. "I was about to end my life when I heard a voice in my mind that said 'Why should you lose the battle and give up on yourself?' That was when I decided I should fight my own battles," asserts 25-year-old Manav (name changed). A city-based centre for counseling and life skills, Samadhan, sees around two to three cases of people suffering from suicidal thoughts every week. "Counseling helps such people go beyond the dead end, and empowers them with psychological competency to combat suicidal thoughts," says counselling psychologist of Samadhan, S. Krishnaswamy.

'Arogya Vani', a health information helpline service that can be reached through 104 BSNL telephone number, received 31 distress calls from people who were about to commit suicide, and pulled them all back from the brink. Counsellors at the helpline called each of the survivors every six hours for three days to ensure that the sufferers were safely out of the danger zone.

Psychiatrists feel that if people identify those who are at risk, the issue can be resolved. "Suicides are both predictable and preventable. Enhancing the people's psychosocial competence can go a long way in helping vulnerable groups," says Dr G. Gururaj, Head of Department, Epidemiology, Nimhans.

Dr Seema Mehrotra, Additional Professor, Nimhans, asserts, "It is not uncommon to experience moments when life's pains and challenges seem too difficult to handle and one feels there is no strength to go on. But, there are several different ways through which people not just survive the crises, but also grow stronger, discover strengths within themselves and find resources around them that they never imagined existed."

Dr Chandrashekar, Professor and head, Department of Psychiatry, Bangalore Medical College, Victoria Hospital, says, "We see nearly 15 depression cases every day where most of them would have nursed suicidal thoughts, but have been saved by timely intervention. People around and family members of such people should realise that it is preventable and curable, and all that they need to do is identify the warning signals at the earliest."

Psychiatrists believe that for every successful suicide in the city, at least 20 attempts must have been made. "Going by the NCRB data for the city, which is 2033 suicides, we can deduce that a minimum of 40,000 suicide attempts have been made. Victoria Hospital alone sees around 5-15 suicide attempt cases every day," Dr Chandrashekar stresses. "It is often about taking time, holding on, and reaching out to something or someone, be it a significant person in one's life, a friend, a counsellor or a mental health professional.

The feeling that the people on the edge are understood by someone can help bring a small shift in the angle of looking at things which can change one's perspective, bring forth new possibilities, a small ray of hope and bring them closer to life," sums up Dr Seema.