According to the World Health Organization, India has one of the highest suicide rates worldwide. The country’s health ministry estimates that up to 120,000 people kill themselves every year and almost 40 percent of them are under the age of 30.

Bullying by college seniors, post-examination depression or the death of a relative have all been named as reasons for the recent suicide wave in Maharashtra.

However, although media reports often imply that the suicide was the immediate result of a particular event, there is usually more involved, says Sandy Dias Andrade, psychologist and founder of a suicide prevention helpline for adolescents.

"In a suicide, it’s never really just the event," she says. "It’s probably something that has been going on for a long time where the person would have experienced suicidal thoughts and may have been grappling with a lot of emotional issues. The event is just a trigger; it’s just the tip of the iceberg."

Changing social patterns

Andrade adds that the rising trend of suicides lies in the socio-cultural changes that are taking place in the increasingly globalised and urban India. Social support systems such as the traditional Indian joint family are disintegrating. Nuclear families in which both parents work are becoming more common. A lack of emotional support at home can also lead to distress among children and adolescents.

Social networks are also changing at the peer group level. Time spent playing with local friends is being replaced by internet gaming with virtual playmates from across the world. The absence of healthy play spaces deprives children of vital lessons in interpersonal relationships, says Shubhada Maitra, chairperson of the Centre for Health and Mental Health at the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

"Children are pursuing their studies, their tuitions, their organized activities, structured play activities as individuals, not even as groups. So the informal groups of children’s networks is the first network that has really broken up."

Work pressure

Experts also think that the education system places extreme stress on young people. The pressure to excel is very high, given the tough admission procedures in top colleges as well as the competitive job market.

Parental pressure to take "preferred" courses such as engineering and medicine can also lead to frustration and despair among young people who wish to pursue other careers.

Preventive measures

The Maharashtra department of education is now looking into the issue. But a drastic reform of the current system cannot happen overnight, says M.R Kadam, director for primary education in Maharashtra.

"Education department officials in various districts have been directed that whenever a suicide takes place in their jurisdiction, they should prepare a report within 24 hours by interviewing the victim’s family and friends to find out the circumstances leading to the suicide," he says. "There are often cases where it is not even due to exam stress. So they have to find out the reasons and devise measures to prevent potential suicides."

As a preventive measure, directions have also been given to all state-run schools to be more alert to the behavior and needs of children. Schools will also appoint more counselors or local NGOs to advise children.

But experts insist that counseling in schools needs to move beyond merely "fixing a problem child" and become an integral part of the system. This calls for joint efforts on the part of parents, schools and the authorities.

Author: Pia Chandavarkar (Pune)
Editor: Anne Thomas