Why Indians commit suicide
October 25, 2017
Over a lakh people in India commit suicide every year, a sizable chunk of the world average. In 2014, 1, 31,666 people committed suicide according to Government records*. 80% of the people in who committed suicide were literate, this is higher than the national literacy rate of 74%. So why do people decide to take the extreme step, what drives them to give up on life altogether? Let’s find out.
1
Domestic violence
Domestic violence is one of the primary causes for suicide in India. In this case women are mostly the suicide victims. A relationship of constant stress and turmoil leads to depression and eventually suicide.
2
Relationship and family problems
Among the youth, it is usually failed relationships and love, cheating and break-ups that lead to suicide. Even among married couples, misunderstandings, frequency differences and infidelity are some of the reasons for suicide. Abusive parents, siblings or partners also contribute to a portion of suicide attempts.
3
Financial reasons
The inability to pay debt, get a job, support a family and failing to meet the medical expenses of ailing parents are some of the financial reasons that drive people to commit suicide. Loan sharks and money lenders usually charge huge amounts of interest from borrowers and are constantly harassing them to pay them back. The constant stress from these individuals lead to borrowers committing suicide.
4
Academics
India has its spell of student suicides. These suicides are usually because of high expectations of parents and peer pressure. Students are always under the pressure of getting high grades and living up to the expectation of their parents, so when they fail an exam they decide to end their own lives. The social segment of these suicide victims are usually middle class or lower middle class in which parents have to borrow money or work extra hard to meet their children’s educational expenses.
5
Drug abuse and alcoholism
Substance abuse affects all segments in the Indian society. Suicides related to substance abuse is usually because of a mental imbalance, chronic depression, hallucinations in case of drug abuse, overdoses and the financial inability to fuel their addiction.
6
Incurable physical illnesses
Extreme illnesses such as cancer, STDs and other incurable illnesses are reasons for people to commit suicides. In 2014, government records state that suicides related to chronic illnesses were 15,419. People under constant pain and no hope of recovery usually feel that death is a better option than suffering.
7
Suffering from mental illnesses
In 2014, 7,104 Indians committed suicide because of mental illnesses. This is mainly because of the stigma and ignorance that prevails in the country around this topic. Even the literate portion of the population tend to ignore the symptoms so long as to drive them to suicide. A portion of the illiterate population also believe mental illnesses to be demonic possessions and seek religious remedies, which are most likely to fail in helping the victim cope and hence leading to suicid
0 comments