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Suicides
in Kerala
Kerala
is the most suicide-prone state of India. The suicide-rate of Kerala
is about three times the national average and has been so for many years
now. The malaise has gripped both towns and villages alike. More and more
persons - the adolescents, young, middle-aged, and aged - find life
increasingly miserable. Frequently, they opt to stop the killing pain by
taking their own lives.
The
suicide scenario in Kerala is serious and warrants sympathetic attention from all concerned.
This
web-page briefly describes the following aspects of suicides and suicide
prevention in Kerala:
See Kerala
Suicide Statistics for statistical information on suicides in Kerala
See our
Resources page for articles on related topics.
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Kerala
Suicide Scenario - Quick Facts:
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About
26 persons die by suicide in Kerala every day.
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The
suicide rate is consistently high - almost three times the national
average.
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About
100 suicide attempts are made everyday - 25% of them find realisation.
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More
males than females kill themselves - the ratio is approximately 70:30.
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80%
of those who die by suicide belong to the productive age group of
15-59 years.
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Family
Suicides are taking place increasingly. In year 2000, as many as 53
incidents of family suicides took place, causing 97 deaths, 28 of them
were minors below 16 years.
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Read
More:
Risk
Factors for high suicide proneness in Kerala:
Reasons
for the abnormally high suicide-proneness of Kerala Society has not
been conclusively established. The following aspects are thought to be
forcing more and more individuals to consider suicide.
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Social
Changes: Weakening protective value of social institutions like
family, poor or absent communications, increased divorce rates
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Deterioration
in indices of social progress ( Unemployment, High crime rates, alcohol consumption,
violence against women and children)
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Life
styles: Consumerism and spending beyond resources pushing people
into debt burdens.
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Mental
Disorders: Particularly, depression untreated or under-treated.
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Negative
interactions from society towards suicidal individuals - painful,
unpleasant, isolating and rejecting.
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A
generation growing up with low frustration tolerance, problems in
education system, parenting attitudes.
Impact
of suicidal deaths on Kerala's Society
The
impact of this many suicidal deaths on the fabric of Kerala's society
is multi-fold. Statistics reveals that most persons who resort to giving
up their lives do so at their most productive age. The survivors of
unsuccessful suicide attempts continue to bear the brunt of social
stigmas. They limp on with deeply etched mental, physical and social
scars. The dependants of those who died by suicide - the children, the
newly married, the pregnant, the aged - find that the lights of their
lives have gone out. In turn, will they too take clues from the gory
examples set in their families?
Societal
attitudes go a long way in providing the healing touch to a family
traumatised by the suicide of a dear one. When suicide occurs, the
family looks for support from several quarters - the hospital,
police, media, neighbors and relatives - every one has a role to
play in helping the family return to normal ways of living.
Read
more:
"Postmortem
of the Living" article by Dr.
CJ John, Psychiatrist and Founder Director of Maithri, that
describes the harrowing experiences of a mother who lost her daughter
to suicide. (Download
article in PDF format)
"Comfort
to Suicide Stricken Families: Can the Media Help?" article
by Dr. CJ John, Psychiatrist
and Founder Director of Maithri. The article addresses the effects
of media coverage on suicides and summarises experts' recommendations
on how to achieve "responsible reporting" of suicides.
(Download
article in PDF format)
Specific
action for suicide prevention in Kerala:
What
can be done? Social and economic conditions not withstanding, many
things can be done to address an individual's suicide proneness. Awareness
among everyone is important. Suicide has to be looked upon as a cry for
help. It has to cease to be a taboo subject. Stigmas associated with
mental health have to be removed. A person or family in despair cannot be
objects of ridicule. The society must hear them, their pain must be
acknowledged - the attitudes must be to help lessen their pain. Opportunities to
release pent up emotions should be available.
Specific
action for Suicide-Prevention:
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Sustained
efforts to create awareness about suicide.
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Develop
community action to offer support to suicidal individuals.
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Continuing
education for health care personnel to identify and treat depression
related mental illnesses.
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Life
skill education for students - incorporating approaches to offer and
seek crisis support.
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Training
for police, social workers, media-persons, teachers and officials holding public
offices to deal with people in distress.
"Suicide
Prevention is Everybody's business"
Society's
response to the suicidal has for some time been thought to fall wholly
within the domain of the medical profession: doctors, psychiatrists and
psychologists. Over the recent years, it has been recognised that every
person in society can perform a constructive role in preventing suicides.
Peoples' initiatives to prevent suicides, such as those of Maithri,
organize lay persons to offer emotional support to the distressed
individual. However, suicide prevention must be seen to begin from a still
basic level in which every element of society takes part. Summarised below
are the responses required from various segments in this task.
Peoples'
Initiative for Suicide Prevention:
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Individuals.................
Save Lives
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Families
....................Be supportive
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Communities
............ Wider Network
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Health
Sector ............ Tasks beyond medicines
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Media.........................Shape
the Society
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Teachers.....................Help
children
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Parents.......................Life
skills to children
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Spiritual
Leaders..........Wisdom to action
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NGOs.........................Pillars
of Strength
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Government.................Time
to act
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Research.....................Towards
Understanding
Adapted
from WHO; "Suicide Prevention: Emerging from Darkness"
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Wish
to react? Have opinions about organising suicide-prevention in Kerala
?
E-mail
your views to
maithrikochi@gmail.com
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Kerala Suicide Statistics | India
Suicide Statistics |
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