A call for help !

Approximately 800000 people commit suicide worldwide every year, of these 135,000 (17%) are residents of India, with higher suicide rates in southern and eastern states of India.

In 2012, Tamil Nadu (12.5% of all suicides), Maharashtra (11.9%) and West Bengal (11.0%) had the highest proportion of deaths due to suicide.

Among large population states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala had the highest suicide rates per 100,000 people in 2012.

Based on recent nationwide surveys, suicide in some populations is on the rise. Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death for all ages in 2013.

Suicide isn’t a new phenomenon. It is not a recent concept or occurrence, and yet has remained a taboo topic of discussion.

The numbers themselves should be enough to convince anyone that the issue should not be seen as taboo, but regarded as what it really is: a serious public health problem.

When a person seeks information on suicide all they find are articles on how it is a horrible thing and how it must not be spoken of, which in itself is quite saddening, but the lack of conversation and awareness around the topic becomes problematic and dangerous when the only conversations regarding suicide are overtly romanticised through centuries of literature and art.

What we must seek to do is to start a conversation, and we must surround this conversation with facts and compassion as opposed to condescending assumptions.

As I looked into this topic I have come to realise so many things that we have turned a blind eye towards, such as the following facts

Myth 1: Suicide doesn’t affect men or Men are stronger than women emotionally:

Fact 1 : The Suicide rate is currently 2:1 between men and women. This goes to show that all the projections we make on men to be stronger or to “man up” are just dangerous. Women tend to be highly influenced by their emotions but are able to talk about it which may help them in most cases, however, men tend to suppress their emotions for fear of being shut down by society.

Myth 2: Educated people do not resort to suicide.

Fact 2 : Education and its influence on mind set may play a role in this phenomenon. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the states which have a higher educational rate compared to other states of India, but suicide rate in more in these states. Chennai is reported as the highest in the suicide rates and Bangalore ranks second with Delhi and Mumbai following at 3rd and 4th place.

Fact # 3: In 2013, 494,169 people were treated in emergency departments for self-inflicted injury that lead by attempt to suicide.

Common reasons for the suicide are stated as family disputes, rage and financial crisis. We all know that everyone in life would face these challenges in their life, but seldom have any taken the decision to end the life.

 According to leading studies, it has been found that loneliness is the singular killer, and I believe this to be true. Being socially isolated from society can take a toll on mental health and lead a person to become depressed and consider suicide. Socializing and interacting with other people is a basic human need. If social needs are not met, a person can start to feel lonely which leads to depression and possibly suicidal thoughts. Living isolated from others can lead to an array of problems including mental health conditions, low energy, substance abuse, negative feelings, and/or sleep problems. If the loneliness and/or social isolation are not addressed, it may lead someone to consider suicide as an escape from their situation.

The Success of Tinder and Truly Madly apps say a lot! There is a huge loneliness in the generations, not the millennial, but the Gen X. They are the one who had Baby boomers as parents and grew up with certain values and expectations. Took career little too seriously and missed the bandwagons of marriage being little atypical. Or else the wrong choices in life led them for single status with divorces and separate adjectives.

Unfortunately, these apps lead people to wrong moves and more misery. Many of married men seeking external affairs pull these lonely souls from the pan, straight into flames.

Talking about loneliness always brings up questions such as “If they are lonely, why not talk to someone?”

Depression can cause one to feel like an inconvenience to others, leading them to become feeling isolated and finding it difficult to talk to others. They can sometimes feel that they are too much to deal with and that they bringing others down.

This is when friends and family need to be compassionate and reassure their loved ones that they're not a burden to them. By letting them know that they can talk to you about how they are feeling, they can gain a sense of safety and support around themselves.

However most of us may not know how to deal with people suffering from depression, which is why it is important to seek professional help by trained psychologists who have spent years understanding these conditions.

Talking about their suicidal tendencies, sometime opens Pandora’s box in the victim’s life, but end of the call the person will gain hope to face their challenges, or at least to wake up for another day and fight their battles.

People who consider suicide as a viable option genuinely believe that they have reached the end of the rope, that nothing can save them and in most cases do not consider or don’t know how to reach out for help, which is why these help lines and resources need to be spoken about. Everyone should always feel like they have another choice, because they do.

It is high time that we took responsibility for these factors, before our loved ones may be subject to such agony.

Our world doesn’t need any more intellects and innovations, we need more of happiness and peace makers. We don’t need cutting edge technologies, we need harmony and beyond all a little more compassion.

Few small changes can make a huge difference to a person. One may not change the whole world, but you can change someone’s world and that in itself is a victory.

The things you can do to help include,

1. Arrange some fun activities where people connect with each other, with a restriction of cell phone use.
2. Create and be active participant in likeminded groups, like a trekking group, bikers group.
3. Make few genuine friends with whom you can communicate your true feelings and worries.
4. Remove the stigma attached to visiting a therapist or the counsellor.
5. Leaders’ coaches spare at least 2-3 hours a week to make your wisdom available for the needful people.
6. Make the help line app available for all the cell phone users when they feel they are sinking.
7. Ensure to have your own social inner circle.
8. Encourage human interactions, cut down IVRS interface as much as possible.
9. Teach kindness and collaboration in schools in place of competing mentality.
10. Encourage TV advertisement and bills to promote harmony as opposed to greed.

There might be many more and my clogged brain can think only these now.

Most of us wait until it strikes to our family, but then it is hardly reversible. So please take action now.

Reference for the Statistics: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2013, 2011)

National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC (producer).

Available from http://www.cdc.gov/injury/ wisqars/index.html.

Suicide Hotlines India: http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/this-is-serious/list-of-suicide-helplines-in-india/

Online crisis network: https://www.imalive.org/