Context

According to the NCRB report for 2021, an increase of 7.2% from the previous year has been reported in the number of people who died by suicide. Given the large number of persons taking their own lives, suicide has emerged as a critical public health concern in India with social dimensions.

About

Highlights of the report:

• Around 64 lakh persons in India died by suicide, an increase of 7.2% from the year 2021.

Reasons for Suicide: 33.2%: Family Problems (other than marriage-related problems) 4.8%: Marriage-Related Problem 18.6%: Illness

• Daily wage earners accounted for 42,004 (25.6 per cent) of the total victims. One in four of the recorded 1, 64,033 suicide victims during 2021 was a daily wage earner.
• They were followed by self-employed people, unemployed people, and those involved in the farming sector were the top categories of people who died by suicide in 2021.
• Maharashtra topped the country in terms of the number of suicides reported in 2021 followed by Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.
• The report certainly points out suicides as a critical public health issue in India and qualifies for a closer epidemiological assessment.
  
  
  

Report by WHO: A 2019 report by the WHO said suicide is one of the top four causes of death worldwide, after road injury, tuberculosis, and interpersonal injury.

How is Suicide a Social Problem?

• The problem with only viewing suicide as an individual problem is that we neglect the importance of social forces contributing to suicide.
• Suicide is a serious social problem whose incidence varies between genders, age groups, geographical distribution, and with the influence of the socio-political structure of society.
• The risk of suicide in a population increases when the social context fails to provide a healthy sense of purpose and belonging, contributing to an individual’s sense of contribution and connection.
• Furthermore, suicide should be viewed as a multidimensional public and mental health issue, having complex interactions with the economic, social, cultural, psychological, and biological realms of individual and collective existence.

What are the challenges?

• Under-reporting of such cases due to fear of social stigma and sometimes to rescue from judicial procedures.
• Fear of legal action:  Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) makes suicide a punishable offense. The fear of punitive action and added hassle of having to deal with police and courts often results in a refusal to seek help.

There has been an attempt at the decriminalization of suicide through the Mental Healthcare Act (2017)

• Social stigma: The social stigma associated with suicide results in the NCRB grossly under-reporting the true numbers of suicide. 

Related Initiatives:

• Mental Healthcare Act, 2017: It aims to provide mental healthcare services for persons with mental illness.
• KIRAN: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a 24/7 toll-free helpline to provide support to people facing anxiety, stress, depression, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health concerns.
• Manodarpan Initiative: It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. It is aimed to provide psychosocial support to students, family members, and teachers for their mental health and well-being during the times of Covid-19.

Madhya Pradesh is going to be the first State in the country to draft a suicide prevention strategy and the government has formed a task force for it.