SUICIDE AMONG THE YOUTH IN KERALA: A SOCIAL WORKER’S PERSPECTIVE
For Your Amigos Foundation, Authored by Anna Finson, Student- MSW, Marian College Kuttikkanam
'Suicide' is not an unfamiliar word. Instead, it is the most frequently used and heard term in recent times. Since the beginning of the lockdown, media and newspapers have reported many suicide cases in Kerala. Even though suicide is a sudden action, suicide ideation is a long process, resulting from not being able to handle the individual's mixed emotions. As an aftereffect of suicide, the victims' families suffer from the loss. Suicide can be a result of many reasons. It is shocking to hear that in 2018, the number of deaths due to road accidents was lesser than the number of deaths due to suicide.
American
Psychological Association defines suicide as an "act of killing yourself,
most often due to depression or other mental illness." Durkheim defined
suicide in his work called 'Suicide.' He says, " the term suicide applies
to all the cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or
negative act According to the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, nearly
800,000 people suicide every year. As per the WHO, suicide is one of the
primary causes of death among 15 – to 29-year-olds globally. Also, 79 percent
of global suicide cases are reported from low income and middle-income countries.
This is just the figures for death that occurred due to suicide, but the figure
would rise even more when it comes to suicide attempts.
When
it comes to India, the figures are high. Among the South East Asian countries,
India records the largest number of suicide cases. Considering the number of
women committed suicide, India ranks the third position according to the UN
Health Agency reports. The year 2019reported 1,39,123 suicide cases in India,
which shows a rise of 3.4 percent than that of 2018 (1,34,516). According to
this data, in 2019, an average of 381 suicide happens daily. The rate of
suicide in India was 10.2 in 2018. Andaman and Nicobar Islands report the
highest suicide rates in 2018, which is 41.0, followed by Puducherry (33.8),
Sikkim (30.2), Chattisgarh (24.7), and Kerala (23.5).
Below given is the statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2018, regarding the number of suicide victims by age group and sex–
YOUTH
AND SUICIDE
In
India, individuals aged 15 – 29 are considered a youth, according to the
National Youth Policy (2004). Out of India's total population, 27.5 percent
constitutes youth. Youth are the future of our country. Young folks are
considered the most powerful and valuable resource that can bring changes to
the country. They can have many fresh ideas, dreams, and innovations that could
help develop the country. However, what if the nation's future decides to end
their life before achieving something in life? The number of youth suicide is
increasing year after year. When they consider everything has come to a full
stop, there is no other way out of desperation, loss of hope, feeling of
worthlessness or grief, and sudden loss of someone, they think about suicide.
Youth
is a transitional period from adolescence to adulthood. During this period, an
individual undergoes many changes physically and psychologically. There would
be much stress, feeling of insecurity and helplessness in young people. To cope
with this, what they need is support from parents, teachers, friends,
society. If this support system is not
practical, then the risk factors arise, leading to the suicide of young people.
Some of the risk factors are:
Mental
disorders
Most
of the studies have reported that mental disorder is one of the primary causes
of suicide among young people. Individual diagnosed with at least one mental
disorder is likely to be at risk of committing suicide. Affective disorder, depression, substance
abuse are some of the mental illnesses that could lead to suicide.
Imitation
Suicide
imitation of young people can be recalled at the macro-level (mass media), but
the immediate environment's influence also causes it. Imitation depends upon
several factors. The first factor is that the model and the individual should
have similarities between them, such as age, gender, etc. Secondly, the
frequency and manner of presentation of the behaviour are also important.
Another factor would be how reinforced is the model's behaviour.
Personality
Characteristics
Everyone
has a different personality. Some young people may not be able to handle mixed
emotions or feelings and confront them. So, they think about suicide. Most of
the young people who commit suicide have a lack of problem-solving skills.
Family
Factors
Family
is an important support system for the youth. If that support system itself
fails, the young people may think about suicide.
Specific
life events traits
Sometimes
the people who lose loved or dear ones, who are undergoing traumatic situations etc. are more likely to commit
suicide. Young people give importance to being with peer groups, establishing
confidence and security, and having new intimate relationships. When this
fails, suicide comes up as a choice.
The State Case Records Bureau (SCRB) reports
that during the lockdown period, which began on the 25th of March this year and
lasted till the 10th of July, 66 suicide cases have been reported. As per the
SCRB reports, during 2014, the number of children committed suicide was 330; in
2015, it was 297, and in 2016 it reduced to 242. Of the 66 children who had
committed suicide, 64 are of the age group 12 – 18 years, and the remaining two
are below age 12 years. The lockdown down situation has made it worse for young
people to handle their stress and anxiety. Most parents don't even know how to
control their children. This makes the situation even worse. Youth are not
being able to be with their friends and have celebrations, along with this
comes the academic pressure over them. Classes are conducted online, and most
children cannot follow the lessons that cause stress among them. (Bose, 2020)
Dr.
Anju Mathew, Assistant Professor at Government MCH, Trivandrum, says that
Kerala has the highest suicide rate than the national average. Kerala is a
state with a high literacy rate, better healthcare facilities, low infant
mortality, and high life expectancy. Still, Kerala's average suicide rate is
higher than the national average suicide rate. Also, the knowledge that the
children have on how to commit suicide creates a panic situation. Observing
this panic situation Kerala government has implemented two programs to
support the youth and to reduce the number of youth suicides, they are –
Ardram Mission: One of the main objectives of Ardram Mission is to prevent suicide along with the depression reduction.
Ottakkalla Oppamundu: It's a counseling outreach program for children by the state mental health program.
ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKER
Social
workers could play some of the suicide prevention measures' roles are the
gatekeeper, caseworker, clinician, counselor, psychotherapist, community
worker, coordinator, researcher, trainer, etc. Social workers could also make
effective policies and programs for preventing suicide by conducting
community-based research work. Social workers could work with individuals or
groups or in a community by organizing awareness programs and educating people
about suicide and its risk factors. Also, at the community level, a social
worker could work with the vulnerable sections like transgender, LGBTQ sections
by providing support and encouragement. Through micro and mezzo levels, social
workers could arrange counseling sessions, therapies if required, and, most
importantly, be active listeners. Most of the time, an individual thinks about
suicide when there is no one to listen to him/her, and the emotions overwhelm
in mind till a point where the person won't be able to handle it anymore. So if
one could be a good listener, that would be generous support and relief to the
person. Also, suicide prevention methods can be included in the social work
syllabus too.
Suicide
is not a silly matter to be left unnoticed. There is an immediate need to
address this issue. Each life is valuable and cannot let them commit suicide
out of hopelessness or helplessness or any other cause. Most of the youth in
the state would have thought about suicide once in their lifetime. It doesn't
take much time for the suicidal ideation to become suicide. So, let's take a
step to help and support the needy ones. Once I heard a quote that – Life is a
journey with problems to solve and lessons to learn and experiences to enjoy.
Good read
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