New Delhi: According to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest report, one person commits suicide in every 40 seconds and India has the highest suicide rate in the South-East Asian region.
A report titled 'Preventing Suicide', released a day before World Suicide Prevention Day, pegged India’s suicide rate at 16.5 suicides per 100,000 people.
On the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day, ETV Bharat spoke to Dr Siddharth Sena (psychiatrist) on the subject, who expressed concern at the high suicide rate among the youths.
Dr Sena said, "There are many reasons for suicide including problems in marital, love and professional life. Drug addiction also poses a serious threat to the life of youngsters, including health complications, problems with the legal system, job loss, and difficulty in carrying out personal responsibilities. Suicide and drug abuse are inter-related. All these issues create a negative environment in their lives which lead them to commit suicide."
According to reports of WHO, suicide was the second leading cause of death among young people aged between 15-29, after road injury, and among teenage girls aged 15 to 19, it was the second biggest killer after maternal conditions. In teenage boys, suicide ranked third preceded by road injury and interpersonal violence.
"Overall, close to 800,000 people die by suicide every year — more than those who are killed by malaria, breast cancer, war or homicide. While 79% of the world’s suicides occurred in underdeveloped and developing countries, high-income countries had the highest rate, at 11.5 per 100 000," stated WHO's report.
On being asked that how can we know that a person is harbouring suicidal thoughts, he said, "The most common problems today faced by a large number of people are depression, stress, and anxiety, which all lead to suicidal thoughts and then people end up killing themselves. The most easily identifiable symptoms of depression in a person are irritation, loss of appetite, sleeping disorder, avoiding social interactions and even substance abuse."
He further added that we need to create an open and conducive environment where everyone is comfortable talking about any mental health issue.
According to the psychiatrist, a person showing signs of depression should be treated by doctors within a span of 15 days.
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year with different themes. The theme for 2019 is “Working Together to Prevent Suicide".
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