The idea of suicide has been explored in literature and films and has been studied closely by psychologists, sociologists and counsellors for a long time. Still the question continues to intrigue: why would someone want to take their own life? Despair, hopelessness, guilt, shame; all are cited as plausible reasons but there is no real answer. A million people commit suicide every year in the world and it is a leading cause of death among teenagers and those under 35. Many more try and fail.
India is said to account for 10 per cent of the world’s suicides and the rate has been increasing steadily. A wide cross section, from teenagers to now farmers is among those who die this way. Students are known to kill themselves because of failure in exams.
The incident in which an 18-year old boy from IIT Bombay Siddharth Singh Charan killed himself at his home in Jodhpur with his father’s gun is fairly typical. He was doing poorly in his studies in a high pressure academic environment though his cousin’s death had also depressed him. Indeed, the IITs have seen many suicides in the past three years or so, more often than not because of the victim’s inability to cope with the academic course.
Studies could not have been the reason why a young Mumbai businessman Dinesh Jain allegedly killed himself after killing his wife and small daughters in the wee hours of Friday last. Jain comes from a well off background and lived in a joint family. The 10-member family reportedly were all residents of a one-bedroom apartment in a city suburb.
Interestingly, in both cases, friends and relatives have claimed that neither was visibly upset or in a depressed mood.
The race for success can be brutal and the expectation levels of peers, friends and family can create an intense environment. Experts have long pointed out how the existing social order in India is dissolving and the certitudes of yore — family support systems, traditional values — have disappeared. Regrettably, we have not yet put together a system where professional help is easily available by way of counsellors and psychiatrists. With no one to turn to, taking one’s own life may be the easiest and quickest way out.
Every life lost this way is a life wasted. But when the victim is in the prime of their life, it is a double shame. Our policy makers, societal experts and educationists need to think of ways to create systems which can help troubled people cope and prevent their suicides.
Comments