In July this year, the country was shocked by the suicide of the founder of Café Coffee Day, VG Siddhartha. What really confused people was the fact that he wasn’t seen to be someone who would end his own life. His company is probably the most well known coffee chain in India, he was seen to be wealthy, and he was successful. So, why did he do it? In a suicide letter, Siddhartha detailed his struggles with running his businesses and how he felt that he could no longer take the pressure. The man was clearly stressed out but nobody saw the danger signs until it was too late.
Suicide is one of those topics that Indian households do not discuss in the open. It’s part of the list of hush-hush subjects–like abortion–you only hear about in whispers blowing in the wind. Why is this so? Mental illness is still seen as a stigma in India. Combined with lack of awareness, we have a public health epidemic that people are refusing to acknowledge exists let alone take steps to combat it.
Indians are killing themselves in high numbers
The WHO released a report yesterday that said that one person dies from suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. Suicide is responsible for more deaths than malaria, breast cancer, war, or even homicide. Take a moment to think about that. People are killing themselves at a faster rate than the number of deaths that occur during war.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29, second only to road injury. Basically, if rash driving did not exist, suicide would be the leading cause of death amongst young people.
But, how much is India contributing to these statistics? The answer will scare you. India has the highest suicide rate in the South-east Asian region with 16.5 suicides per 1 lakh people. India also had the third-highest female suicide rate (14.7) in the world after Lesotho (24.4) and South Korea (15.4). It should be noted that Lesotho is one of the poorest countries while South Korea is one of the wealthier countries.
In 2018, according to research published in the Lancet Public Health October issue, Indian women make up nearly 37% of global female suicide deaths. To put it starkly, for every 3 women who kill themselves around the world, one of them is Indian.
So, rich men like the founder of Café Coffee Day commit suicide while poor farmers are also taking their own lives. Women from rich and poor countries are also taking their own lives at an alarming rate. So, what is the cause?
Stigma and lack of awareness
In India, there is a continued stigma around mental illness and mental health. In many instances of suicide, relatives hide the cause of death by reporting it as a result of an accident, drowning, or a fall. Considering that 90% of those who commit suicide suffer from some form of mental illness, it is important that people are open to the idea of sending their loved ones for counselling or therapy without feeling shame.
Many people are also unaware of how to deal with people who show signs of wanting to commit suicide, which results in an inability to intervene on time. In a bid to raise awareness, TikTok has teamed up with Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF) to launch #YourLifeMatters, a campaign aimed at spreading awareness around the importance of mental health and curbing suicide rates in India.
This is a great initiative as people have been known to express suicidal tendencies on social media before actually committing the act. In this way, social media users can alert authorities if there is a sign that someone is undergoing enough mental stress to consider taking their own lives.
Even the entertainment industry is being more responsible with how it handles the depiction of suicide. In July this year, popular show 13 Reasons Why edited out a graphic suicide scene that was so detailed in its depiction that many young people used it as a template to commit suicide themselves. Celebrities like Shaheen Bhatt and Deepika Padhukone are also doing their bit to remove the stigma around mental illness by openly discussing their own struggles with depression.
What to do?
If you notice a family member, friend, or a colleague displaying signs of depression or mental illness, or you notice they have a sudden interest in suicide, don’t panic. Reach out to someone who can help them, like a trusted counsellor or a suicide helpline. We’ve compiled a few suicide helplines here for quick reference.
1. Vandrevala Foundation Helpline
- 24×7 Helpline: 1 860 266 2345
- Email: help@vandrevalafoundation.com
2. Sneha Foundation
- Ph No: 044-24620050
- Email: help@snehaindia.org
3. Aasra
- 24×7 Helpline: 91-9820466726
- Email: aasrahelpline@yahoo.com
4. Roshni Trust (11 am to 9 pm from Monday to Saturday)
- Ph. No: 040 66202000
- Email: roshnihelp@gmail.com
5. Coonj (1 pm to 7 pm from Monday to Friday)
- Ph: No: +918322252525
- Email: youmatterbycooj@gmail.com
