Suicide - One of the leading causes of death in India. Southern states contribute 40%

[Raghy]

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Greetings.

Quote - "A very large proportion of suicides in India can be attributed to the manner in which families and society at large deal with all forms of mental illness. Where something as common as depression is rarely recognised and when recognised is even more rarely treated because there is a stigma attached to ailments of the mind, there clearly is a problem. What can be easily treated with some medication and counselling more often than not goes untreated till it develops a more serious form. Both government and civil society need to act to change this. Above all awareness must be built that the mind is as liable to be affected as other bodily organs and there is nothing to be ashamed of in acknowledging this".

Quote - "Delhi recorded the lowest suicide rate in the country. In absolute numbers, the most suicide deaths in individuals, aged 15 years or older, were in AP (28,000), Tamil Nadu (24,000) and Maharashtra (19,000)".

Quote - "he risk of completing a suicide was 43% higher in men, who finished secondary or higher education, in comparison to those who had not completed primary education. Among women, the risk increased to 90%".

Quote - "Overall, more Indian men commit suicide than women, but the male to female ratio for suicides is smaller in India than in many Western countries, in particular among youth. Studies have suggested that social factors such as violence and depression are key determinants of suicide in women".

Source - Suicide may soon be leading cause of death in India, reveals study - The Times of India

How seriously do we view depression cause for depression and depression related issues?

 

[biswa]

The point of the stigma is very appropriate. We Indians are very insensitive. Even today in films the comic character will make fun of other by saying: "Are you mental-a-a ?

 

[DR.C.NARAYANI]

Hello Raghy sir ,very useful yet disturbing fact is your O P. its true people are more sensitive of others opinion,comments.they take hasty decisions,within few minutes ,basically there must be lack of communication ,understanding,supporitive measures from family ,spouse etc.when students aged people commit the problem is in the hands of parents,school. they over corner the children for performance,future etc. a parent expecting good result from their ward is natural but then still ,over force ,expectations drive them to bad end and children are not prepared to face the failure in their life means of educations field. they stumble and crumble later its like eco-chain ,that hasty end affect their parents.children must be taught the value of life which more valuable than their studies. education is a part of life not the whole life at all.there are many options for studies .when suicide attempt is in age of marriage or after marriage sure they have to rule out the problem ,giving moral support .better understanding ,giving them confidence to face the life,and has to go for the counselling sessions.but the after effects are very cruel ,no one can forget the incident ,relational ship problems,detoriate of physical fittness,mental strength. so its every body duty to make sure that either we pat friendly ,give support, and avoid these situations in any person s life.

 

[guruvayurappan]

Hello Raghy sir ,very useful yet disturbing fact is your O P. its true people are more sensitive of others opinion,comments.they take hasty decisions,within few minutes ,basically there must be lack of communication ,understanding,supporitive measures from family ,spouse etc.when students aged people commit the problem is in the hands of parents,school. they over corner the children for performance,future etc. a parent expecting good result from their ward is natural but then still ,over force ,expectations drive them to bad end and children are not prepared to face the failure in their life means of educations field. they stumble and crumble later its like eco-chain ,that hasty end affect their parents.children must be taught the value of life which more valuable than their studies. education is a part of life not the whole life at all.there are many options for studies .when suicide attempt is in age of marriage or after marriage sure they have to rule out the problem ,giving moral support .better understanding ,giving them confidence to face the life,and has to go for the counselling sessions.but the after effects are very cruel ,no one can forget the incident ,relational ship problems,detoriate of physical fittness,mental strength. so its every body duty to make sure that either we pat friendly ,give support, and avoid these situations in any person s life.

dear madam !
whenever a news comes about suicide ,i will make that opportunity to tell/discuss about its ill effects so that the persons listening to that will not take that extreme step. like Dr.C.Narayani said, i used to say if you fail in exam ,there is another exam and if you end your life no other choice. you may be happy in ending your life and your parent,brothers &relative are put in to lot of misery. there is nothing in ending your life -you have to prove what you are by living this life.when your birth is not decided by you ,what right you have to end your own life. when you sow this feeling, it will help all in future.
many suicide case are spontaneously occurring and if the person give a little fit thinking it will not happen
guruvayurappan
guruvayurappan

 

[Iyyarooraan]

The report must be covering recent period. It is about depression, health problems, education failure, love affair, family harassment and silly reasons of 4-anna matters. If we go back, scores of people committed suicide (or glorified as self-immolation) after the demise of CNA and MGR. How can one chase out these lonely minds. On the contrary there are minds which do not commit suicide but eliminate others. I think those people are made up of that stuff. Maybe it is a phase in human civilization.

 

[renuka]

As a doctor I can safely say depression is often taken very very lightly.
Worse still if anyone in the medical profession themselves feel depressed and when anyone of them seek treatment they are sort of viewed as "mental" by their own colleagues.

I feel the most important way to prevent depression is at the grass root level that is childhood itself.
When dealing with a male child I feel its no harm letting them even cry if they are afraid,unhappy or even angry.

Often a male child is not allowed to cry and reminded "do not cry you are a boy..boys don't cry"

This is a very bad start for a male child..suppression of emotions makes a person hide his feelings and can't emote well in later part of life increasing risk for suicide later.

I have noticed that in the Indian household the 1st born/eldest son is always not allowed to cry..trained to be strong to be a man even when he is still a boy.
Well groomed by the mother of the house to be her canine unit!!LOL

These types of mama's boys do not turn out to be good husbands cos their loyalty lies in their mum's aprons strings and they do not emote well to wife and kids sometimes.

These types of individuals get depressed easily and either they lash out or remain silent.
We have no idea what goes on in their mind.

If we take a survey of Indian homes we might realize that most of the while problematic homes are always headed by man who are 1st born elder sons.

But if he is the only son but NOT the eldest born..that is he is a second child and has an elder sister he turns out a bit better becos he is not put 100% in charge cos he is the younger child.

Now coming to the female child..first and foremost Tamil cinema should stop the scenes of suicide cos females tend to get carried away by movies and mega serials.

Movies often portray a rape victim as feeling "dirty and spoilt" and next scene is suicide.
Indian girls should be trained to think that we humans have self worth and even if someone tries to molest you..we are not dirty or spoilt.

I am surprised that we Hindus keep talking that we are the Atma and not the body but yet so much importance is given to the body even when rape or molest is not our fault.

Two more points I would like to highlight is depression in children and depression in the elderly.

1)Depression in children...these days children get depressed easily cos of stiff competition at school and undue pressure from parents.
Parents just want to brag to each other that their child topped the class etc.
The good child is the child that scores the most.

I remember when I was a child I used to score real high in class and my brothers used to be average cos they never used to study.
So my brothers used to get scolded by my parents and my parents would compare me and them.
I used to feel bad for my brothers cos I was afraid they will grow up hating me.
But thank god they didn't!
So I used to teach my younger brother and help him out in his studies and my elder brother too used to sit and study with us.
I would say they were intelligent but just never liked to put in hours of study but anyway today both are successful professionals.

I used to tell my parents that do not compare them with me cos that might make them hate me.

Parents should not compare and contrast kids studies and performance.
Each child is unique and has different potential and capability.

Comparing and contrasting kids these days might lead to depression among kids.

When a child enters his/her teens..parents have to take into account hormonal surges and crushes on the opposite sex.
This is an important and often neglected aspect of live.
Get to know your teen well, be a friend with a teen and not be a dominating parent.
Cos at this age when a teen is depressed he/she might land up with substance abuse etc.
When a girl and boy comes of age..explain to them how they will feel and hormonal play which might lead to crushes and so called puppy love.
When a teen knows that his/her parents will lend a ear to their problems depression will NOT surface.

I will cover depression in the elderly in my next post.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Matters of mind are mind-boggling. We would like to know from you doctor. I think these days more reasons - physical, physiological and life style - are attributed to depression.

 

[renuka]

Matters of mind are mind-boggling. We would like to know from you doctor. I think these days more reasons - physical, physiological and life style - are attributed to depression.

Will cover soon...mind is the biggest mystery..Sometimes even I wonder what actually goes on in my own mind.
Sometimes when we explore our mind we get lots of answers.

 

[sarang]

Depression can set in at any age. A chennai doctor, very popular, prominent and sought by many, who had served in many major hospitals in chennai, commited suicide when he was 80+. He was saved by his driver the first time when he rushed into the sea. But, after a few months of his sister's death, he jumped from the terrace of his house. He was a bachelor.

 

[C RAVI]

Depression can set in at any age. A chennai doctor, very popular, prominent and sought by many, who had served in many major hospitals in chennai, commited suicide when he was 80+. He was saved by his driver the first time when he rushed into the sea. But, after a few months of his sister's death, he jumped from the terrace of his house. He was a bachelor.

Exactly!!!!!

Depression can set in at any age and among the folks of any profession. Many are the folks who get involved in something which they can not even share with any one and suffer from self pity and guilty consciousness. And many are the folks who could not find any one standing by their side and sooth them. They all get into sever depression and confirms to themselves that, there is no use in continuing a painful and meaningless life.

When the "Mind" and the "Heart" could not tolerate the self for any unpleasant involvements/experiences and loses the sense of self appreciation, self worthiness, self respect and self confidence, people get into depression, dwell deep into it and ultimately commit suicide as a final peaceful resort.

With the conclusion "Better to die once, than dying every day, every minute, every second"

Depressed people can find a psychiatrist to cure them. But the point is, a human can hardly live is peace if he/she could not find another human standing by their side and protect their interest, till their death.

 

[sarang]

This is what I have been told by one who was very close to suicide, but stepped back. When one feels that there is no one to support or help and he/she is all alone (mentally, not necessarily physically), the irrevocable decision is taken to end life.

But the point is, a human can hardly live is peace if he/she could not find another human standing by their side and protect their interest, till their death.

 

[Govinda]

1. There are people (family, media, society) who set high expectations for others . When the other person cannot meet those, they develop fear of failure, unacceptance and isolation. They resort to these drastic solutions. [as Dr. Renuka pointed out]

2. In other cases, the victims themselves set goals/desires for themselves (in case of career, money, love-affair etc), and end up
with utter dis-appointments.

Nowadays, people are rude, selfish, demanding, materialistic and hence distance from real human interaction/empathy/compassion. I have seen many bullies even among small kids, who are dominating, possessive, un-ethical. So, the better way of dealing with this, is for the people/kids to be trained to be less expecting from others and accept others. Overtime, we will a huge crowd of normal behaviour.

 

[renuka]

This link WebMD covers well about depression in the elderly.

Depression in the Elderly: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

 

[guruvayurappan]

Matters of mind are mind-boggling. We would like to know from you doctor. I think these days more reasons - physical, physiological and life style - are attributed to depression.

dear sir !
when we sense a person is in depressed condition, we should not allow to be alone . keep him engaged and not allow him to be alone.we can easily find the cause for their depression in most of the cases and give confidence building counseling words which do wonder in long run.tel them how a blind man manging while they worry about their eye defects,loss of a hand in accident -think of a man without hands.if he feels not lucky to have car ,tell that he is lucky for healthy foot
guruvayurappan

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Yes. People in depressed conditions should not be left alone. But I have seen they feel lonely even in the midst of 5 people. The persons may obey you just as they want to without shedding that loneliness feeling. But I would like to know from Dr Renuka, whether this depression leads to any other mental complications without having suicidal tendency. I think the intensity varies from person to person according to their mental make up.