South India: Suicide Capitol of the World

When I recently came across an article about the high suicide rate of Asian Americans, I wondered if there is also a high suicide rate in Asia itself, particularly India and China. What I found as I did my research was troubling. This article will cover what I learned about suicide in India; a separate article will cover what I learned about suicide in China.

First of all, it should be noted that while this article is titled "South India: Suicide Capitol of the World," my research has led me to conclude that the rest of India also has a similar suicide rate as South India, but South India has better systems for reporting and tracking suicide than the rest of India. Therefore, information related to suicide in South India very likely reflects what is happening in the rest of India as well.

SUICIDE IN INDIA: SOME STARTLING STATISTICS

1. According to Dr Anuradha Bose, associate professor in pediatrics who also works for the CMC's department of community health, suicide is the largest single cause of death among Indian youth between the ages of 15-19. One in three cases of suicide in India is committed by people between the ages of 15 and 29.

2. A suicide is reported in India every 15 minutes, and it is believed that many suicides are not reported, so the actual number is likely much higher.

3. Kerala, the state with the highest literacy rate in all of India also has the highest suicide rate.

4. The average suicide rate in India is 103 per 100,000 people compared with the worldwide average of 14.5 suicides per 100,000 people.

5. In the Southern India state of Tamil Nadu, suicide accounts for 50% to 75 of all deaths of young women and 25% of the deaths of young men.

SUICIDE IN INDIA: FEMALES ARE AT GREATER RISK THAN MALES

While suicide is high among both males and females in India, the rate of suicide among females in India is close to three times that of males. The average rate for suicide among males in India is 58 for every 100,000 men and 148 for every 100,000 women. Girls in India are more likely to commit suicide than boys for various reasons. First off, there is a known gender bias against female children in Indian society and culture. At times girls may feel like nothing more than a financial burden to their families. Girls are often prone to suicide when they fail in exams, when there is family conflict, or when they are not free to marry or love the man of their choosing.

SUICIDE IN INDIA: POSSIBLE REASONS

Although the reasons for suicide in India are likely as varied as the people who commit them, there are some primary reasons for the high suicide rate in India. Here are some of the most common reasons for committing suicide in India.

1. Family conflict, including domestic violence. Compounding this problem, India is also losing the support that has traditionally come from the joint family system, as many couples now opt to live on their own, away from the rest of the family.

2. Financial woes. In urban areas in India the introduction of high-end goods has created a lust for material things. While materialism was not uncommon in the past, it is accelerated in India today. This has led to many people taking on debt at exorbitant interest rates in order to attempt to obtain the "good life." When the debt cannot be paid, some resort to suicide as a solution to the problem.

In rural India the common farmer is finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet due to crop failure, growing debt and fewer yields. In fact, in the past decade, over 10,000 farmers in India have committed suicide as a result of financial failure.

3. Pressure to perform. Psychologist Mathew Kurien of the Southern Medical Centre, Bangalore states, "In this modern age, children are not brought up peacefully. They are under pressure to deliver at school; they are under pressure to appear for competitive examinations." Elizabeth Vadakkekara, coordinator at Thrani, a counseling center in Thiruvananthapuram states, "I get hundreds of calls from students who are contemplating suicide because they could not achieve the good scores expected by their parents." The pressure students face is clear as each year, around exam time, counseling centers are flooded with calls from students who are overwhelmed at the mere thought of taking the exams.

SUICIDE IN INDIA: POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Sadly, in the research I did, no one seemed able to come up with any potential solutions to the problem of suicide in India. Dr. Anuradha Bose has begun a program of family life education, which includes information on sex and relationships for high school students which he hopes will help, but he admits it's a small start to a big problem.

Vadakkekara, coordinator of the Thrani counseling center in Thiruvananthapuramn believes that the way to reduce the suicide rate in India is to make life easier, though there are no apparent ideas for how to do just that.

Sources:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/15spec.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/19inter.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3590847.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7333911.stm