Youth Suicides in India (GS Paper 4, Society, Ethics)
Why in news?
- The issue of suicide in India is a concerning matter, India has one of the highest number of suicides in the world.
- As per NCRB data, In 2022, 1.71 lakh suicides were recorded, in which 41% were committed by the young adults below the age of 30, marking a significant 27% jump from 2018.
- But these number are underestimated because of less reporting of suicidal deaths because of inadequate registration system, lack of death certification and the social stigma attached to suicides in India.
- A young Indian dies by suicide every 8 minutes which is a loss to family, society and Country at large. This data points out the graveness of situation of mental health of students in India.
Reasons for increase in Suicide Rates
- Suicide is a complex human phenomenon which has no single factor, but multiple factors like biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors.
- Mental health problems (54%)
- Family issues (36%)
- Academic stress (23%
- Social and lifestyle factors (20%)
- Violence (22%)
- Economic distress (9.1%)
- Relationship factors (9%)
- Other issues- Physical and sexual abuse, exam failures, intergenerational issues, other social-cultural factors such as Caste.
Socio-Cultural Factors
- There are specific socio-cultural factors for suicides of women in such as arranged and early marriages because of familial pressure, young motherhood, low social status, domestic violence and economic dependence.
- Apart from this, gender stereotypes compelling rigid gender roles and gender based discrimination have also contributed in suicides among women.
Education System
- An education system just focusses on scoring marks, often through rote learning and less focussing on the overall development of the child.
- The Indian education system poses immense pressure on students which severely affects the mental well being of the students.
- The cut throat competition in some of the competitive exams like IIT JEE, NEET for the students coming from Lower middle class families creates immense pressure.
- These exams are a way to alleviate their socio-economic status. But because of the scant number of seats in these exams only a fraction of students are able to clear them. Others who fail become prey to societal and peer pressure often leading students to take up their lives.
Social Media
- Last decade has seen a proliferation of internet users in India.
- A meta-analysis of 19 states has revealed that almost 20% of college students are net addicts, one-third are cyber bullied and one-third of all these are suicidal.
- Teens who use social media for 2 hours daily are more suicidal.
- Sensational reporting of suicides of popular celebrities has an impact on the psychology of people.
- After the sensational reporting of death of a famous actor there was increase in searches on google related to “how to commit suicide.
What can be done?
- Imparting Emotional intelligence- like problem solving, impulse control and emotional regulation along with improving help seeking behaviour.
- Early identification and care- help people to work on depression and anxiety and also there are evidences people getting care from friends and family members tend to be less vulnerable to commit a suicide.
- Healthy lifestyle- adopting a healthy lifestyle such as a good diet, regular exercising, yoga and meditation improves mental health and reduces suicides in young.
- Improving family environment- by reducing domestic violence, decrease in patriarchal norms and alcohol consumption leads to reduction suicidal tendencies.
- Providing economic assistance– to economically distressed people
- Educational reforms- making education as a means for overall development of a child rather than just for quantitative assessment can create a huge impact.
- Societal changes– to reduce stigma on the basis of caste, gender and sexuality of a person.
Conclusion
- In this capitalistic, materialistic world where lifestyles are based on show-off culture.
- There is a need of implementing educational, societal and behavioural changes among citizens to cope with the mental health pressures and suicidal thought.
