SUICIDE @ Chennai. All reasons except FALSE DOWRY, DV, arrest, taking away property discussed! Councilors give opinion, long paragraphs are written, various ANGLES are discussed and the ONLY thing missing is the truth .... !! i.e. the marriage is breaking down, that MEN are committing twice the # of sucides as women, THAT India is under seige !!
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From Times of India , e paper
WHY IS CHENNAI SEEING A SPURT IN SUICIDE CASES?
Isha Sharma
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Last week, a 34-year-old Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable committed suicide at his house. Exactly a week after his girlfriend also committed suicide, a 23-year-old hanged himself. Earlier this month, a techie committed suicide in a mall, and a few weeks before that, another troubled soul jumped off the Adyar bridge. These are just a few instances of people in the city taking their own lives. There have been many more suicide cases in and around the city of late.
Although the rate of suicides (number of suicide per lakh) in India has been constant for the last two years, 11.2, the rate of suicides in Tamil Nadu has been the highest in the country, 25.1. This makes one wonder what the reasons could be behind the alarming increase in the number of suicides; could it be urban angst, stress, peer pressure or even perhaps, the weather?
"Complete lack of resources. There isn't much help available to a person in depression," says Dr Mini Rao, a psychologist. With a city that has an estimated population of over 5 million, "there are very few psychologists available. In the whole of India, there are hardly about 14000 to 15000 psychologists," she adds. Majority of people are still unaware of mental health issues and psychologists are not publicized. According to Dr Mini, going to a psychologist is still considered a taboo.
POSSIBLE SUICIDE TRIGGERS:
• Increased parental expectations: Parents impose their will and want the child to fulfil their dreams.
• People confuse depression with stress: Stress is temporary, like exam stress, office project stress; but depression is constant.
• The rat race in today's lives makes it difficult to balance personal and professional life. Adding to Dr Mini's insights, Varsha Jain, a psychology major student, says, "Chennai has a huge generation gap which is not there in any other metropolitan. Being a culturally dominated city, the sudden western burst has shaken people's roots." She adds, "The youth is trying to find a balance between their cultural background and the sudden modernity. When they don't find it, it creates an imbalance in their lives and they tend to get suicidal tendencies."
Counsellor Brinda Jayaram blames the rush of the city life as the main factor of suicides. "Most of the patients I get are from the IT or business sector and the obvious reason is that they are unable to balance work and personal life," she says. She also adds that people who bottle up their feeling are more suicidal.
The one question that comes to mind is what instant help can a depressed person, on the verge of committing suicide, get? "They can call our helpline numbers anytime. We provide a 24-hour phone service to anyone who needs help," says PV Sankaranarayanan, Media Coordinator at SNEHA. According to him, "Urbanization and high levels of competition are the biggest reasons. Today, expectations are high, leading to a rat race, which leads to excessive, even unhealthy competitiveness. And this competition starts right from childhood." He says that a large number of people are targeting at very limited options, like engineering and medical and think if they don't go for either of the two, they won't be successful. "The age group that sees the maximum numbers of suicides is between 15 and 45," he adds.
*All figures are taken from National Crimes Records Bureau, New Delhi
COMMON REASONS FOR SUICIDES
College students: Exam stress and failure in exams, relationship issues, low self-esteem (seen mostly in students who come from rural areas), peer pressure.
Working professionals: Financial issues, chronic illness, debt, loss of a loved one, job stress, unrequited love and relationships gone sour.
Suicide Helplines: 044 - 24640050 (SNEHA), 18002094353 (Connecting India)
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