Suicide Prevention Strategies: An Overview

Veerabhadrappa G. Mendagudli¹*, Shivaleela S. Sarawad²

¹Research Scholar, Shree JJT University, Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan).

²Assistant Professor, Dr. Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Foundation’s College of Nursing,

Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.

*Corresponding Author Email: Veerabhadrappa.bijapur@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Suicide is the intentional self-infliction of death. It is a leading cause of death all over the world. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19. Low- and middle-income countries account for 79 % of global suicides. Pesticide ingestion, hanging, and weapons are among the most popular ways to commit suicide around the world. Suicides had increased to 230,314 in India in 2016. Suicide was the leading cause of death in both the 15–29 and 15–39 age groups. About 800,000 people die by suicide worldwide every year, of these 135,000 (17%) are residents of India, a nation with 17.5% of world population. A prior suicide attempt is the single most important risk factor for suicide in the general population. Every year, approximately 800,000 people die by suicide around the world, with 135,000 (17%) of them living in India, which accounts for 17.5% of the global population. For every suicide there are many more people who attempt suicide every year. In the general population, having attempted suicide previously is the single most significant risk factor for suicide. Tamil Nadu had the highest suicide rate of 12.5 percent in 2012, followed by Maharashtra (11.9 percent) and West Bengal (11.0 percent). Tamil Nadu and Kerala had the highest suicide rates per 100,000 people among large population states in 2012. In India, the ratio of male to female suicides is around 2:1. The number of suicides in India is estimated to be in the millions. For example, a study published in The Lancet predicted 187,000 suicides in India in 2010, although official data from the Indian government claims 134,600 suicides. According to WHO data, India's age-standardized suicide rate for women is 16.4 per 100,000 (6th highest in the world), and for men it is 25.8 per 100,000. (Ranking 22nd).

KEYWORDS: Suicide, prevention, strategies, government of India.

INTRODUCTION:

In India, approximately 46,000 suicides occurred in each of the age groups 15-29 and 30-44 in 2012, accounting for approximately 34% of all suicides. The most common ways to commit suicide in 2012 were poisoning (33%), hanging (26%), and self-immolation (9%)¹.

In 2012, 89% of suicide victims in India were literate, which was higher than the national literacy rate of 74%. In India's 53 largest cities, there were 19,120 suicides.

Chennai had the most suicides (2183), followed by Bengaluru (1,989), Delhi (1,397), and Mumbai (1,296). Suicide rates in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), followed by Kollam (Kerala), were nearly four times higher than the national average, at 45.1 and 40.5 per 100,000 population, respectively.

Suicide rates in Indian cities vary dramatically from year to year. Suicide rates have also risen in Punjab as a result of bank issues².

Male suicide rates are double those of females on average. At the regional level, however, there is a lot of difference in this ratio. West Bengal had the highest number of female suicides of any Indian state, with a male-to-female suicide ratio of 4:3³.

Farmers' suicides are also a major problem in India, accounting for 11.2 percent of all suicides.

In the world, one suicide attempt occurs every three seconds, and one suicide death occurs every 40 seconds. Suicide attempts are the leading cause of death by suicide.

Predisposing factors include:

· Easy access to suicide methods (E.g. pesticides or firearm)

· Suicide attempts are more likely when a person's social, economic, and cultural stress levels are high.

· War disaster situation.

What is Suicide?

The Government of India classifies a death as suicide if it meets the following three criteria:⁴

· It is an unnatural death,

· The intent to die is generated within the person,

· There is always a reason to die. The reason may have been specified in a suicide note or unspecified.

Suicide can be caused by a variety of factors:

Including:

1. Marital problems (dowry, extra marital affairs, etc.)

2. Failure in Examination.

3. A chronic condition that is incurable.'

4. Monsoon loss and indebtedness (in case of farmers suicide)

5. Family issues.

6. Mental health problems.

7. Substance abuse.

8. Suicide methods:

· Pesticide ingestion (most common mean)

· Hanging.

· Firearm⁵.

Prevention and control of suicide:

WHO adopted mental health action plan (2013-2020):

Goal :Reducing the rate of suicide in countries by 10% by 2020.

Strategies for the Prevention:

1. Universal precautions:

· Increase accessibility to health services.

· Promotion of mental health.

· Reduce harmful use of alcohol.

· Limit access to the means of suicide.

· Reducing access to the means of suicide (e.g. pesticides, firearms, certain medications)

· Introducing alcohol policies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol;

· Early identification, treatment and care of people with mental and substance use disorders, chronic pain and acute emotional distress;

2. Selective precautions (for vulnerable groups):

· Special care to be given the people survival in disaster or suffered any kind of abuse.

· Special care to previously suicide attempters.

· Helpline should be made available to have counselling during the stressful period of someone’s life.

3. Indicated strategies:

· Strengthening of the health system for suicide prevention and control⁶.

National Suicide Prevention Strategy:

There are 6 components.

1. Surveillance

2. Information, education and communication

3. Media guidelines

4. Means restriction

5. Stigma reduction.

6. Training of health workers, teachers, police officers and parents as well⁷.

Actions taken by GOI to prevent farmer’s suicide:

· Government constituted KRISHAK Ayog for enquiry of farmers suicide.

· Farmers debt waiving scheme was launched.

· Subsidized irrigation infrastructure.

· Pradhan Mantri Sinchayee Yojana.

· Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana³.

CONCLUSION:

Suicide is a complex problem, because efforts to prevent it include cooperation and collaboration from a variety of fields, including health, education, labour, agriculture, industry, justice, law, defence, politics, and the media.Since no one solution will make a difference in a complicated problem like suicide, all efforts must be systematic and integrated.

REFERENCES:

1. Suicides in India.The Registrar General of India, Government of India (2012)

2. "Gender differentials and state variations in suicide deaths in India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2016". Lancet. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.

3. Patel, V.; Ramasundarahettige, C.; Vijayakumar, L.; Thakur, J. S.; Gajalakshmi, V.; Gururaj, G.; Suraweera, W.; Jha, P. (2012). "Suicide mortality in India: A nationally representative survey". The Lancet. 379 (9834): 2343-51. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60606-0. PMC 4247159. PMID 22726517.

4. Suicide Rates – Data by country. World Health Organization.2012. Retrieved 30 November 2015

5. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide.

6. Mental health action plan 2013-2020.Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013, http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/ 89966/1/9789241506021_eng.pdf,accessed 24 July 2016.

7. Preventing suicide: a global imperative, World Health Organization; 2014, http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/ 131056/1/9789241564779_eng.pdf?ua,accessed on 26 December 2016.

Received on 26.04.2021 Modified on 05.05.2021

Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2021; 11(3):447-448.

DOI: 10.52711/2349-2996.2021.00108