Chennai: A recent official note tabled in Parliament by Union home ministry has confirmed that Tamil Nadu continues to be one of the leading states in suicide rate, particularly the student community.
And now with TN witnessing suicide attempts by various political party cadres, psychologists fear that the suicide rate of Tamil Nadu will continue to be in top position.
“While 8,068 students committed suicide in 2014, the number increased to 8,934 in 2015 and to 9,474 in 2016, the last year for which such data is available. In 2016, a total of 1,350 students ended their lives in Maharashtra. In the same year, West Bengal witnessed the second highest number of student suicides (1,147), followed by Tamil Nadu (981),” quoted Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir responding to a written question by Rajya Sabha MP on student suicides.
Suicides among students are typically attributed to depression, academic pressure, family expectations, inability to cope with stress, social isolation and substance abuse.
“There is an over emphasis on academic excellence which is used to determine the worth of a child by both parents and teachers. Failure of which crumbles the self-esteem of a child and a particular incident can provoke them to consider suicide as the only solution. Parents should accept their children for who they are rather than who they would like them to be. Overburdening the child with their expectations can imbibe impulsive suicidal thoughts due to fear of failure,” said Dr Vivian Kapil, psychiatrist, SIMS Hospital. A consultant psychologist at Apollo Hospitals, Dr V Raman added that various risk factors such as lack of appetite, self-harm, isolation, loss of interest, abuse, addiction are often the warning signs of behavioural changes when a person contemplates suicides. However, in case of impulsive suicides, a particular incident in the life of a student like what happened in the suicide case of Anitha can lead to suicidal thoughts.
Also, the glorification of suicide cases leads to their propagation causing Werther effect or what is called as copycat suicide mostly in depressed or distressed people.
