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South India - Worlds Suicide Capital Saturday, 5 September 2009 - 11:21 PM SL Time |  | |
Out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15 to 29.
In the Union Territory of Pondicherry, every month at least 15 youths between the ages of 15 and 25 commit suicide.
In 2002, there were 10,982 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 11,300 in Kerala, 10,934 in Karnataka, and 9,433 in Andhra Pradesh.
In 2003, the largest number of farmers -- around 175 -- committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala, the country`s first fully literate state, has the highest number of suicides. Some 32 people commit suicide in Kerala every day.
These statistics are startling. Southern India is the country`s information technology hub. The southern region is competing with northern India to become the country`s economic powerhouse.
But south India has another distinction, one that it would rather not have: the region accounts for the world`s largest number of suicides by young people, according to The Lancet, the respected British medical journal.
Some 50,000 people in the four states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry kill themselves every year. This statistic becomes even more alarming when you consider that the total number of suicide cases recorded in the whole of India in 2002 was 154,000.
The Lancet has published an authoritative study on suicides in southern India in its April edition. The study says the suicide rates among young men and women in southern India are the highest in the world.
The study conducted by the Vellore-based Christian Medical College on teenagers in Tamil Nadu, especially in the Vellore region, found that the average suicide rate for women is as high as 148 per 100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men.
Worldwide, this rate is 14.5 per 100,000. Also, in the West, men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women.
`This is just the tip of the iceberg,` says Dr S K Vijayachandran, nodal officer for Kerala`s district mental health programme. `It is not youngsters alone. More people in the southern states belonging to every walk of life are killing themselves than in other regions in India.`
For instance, the suicide rate in Kerala was about 32 per 100,000 persons in 2002, thrice the rate in India as a whole. `This is a huge problem,` Dr Vijayachandran says, `which requires urgent intervention.`
Experts like him put forward various reasons for the dismal state of mental health among people in the South. Some of these reasons, which mental health experts term `acute stress factors,` include:
Family conflicts, domestic violence, academic failures, and unfulfilled romantic ideals.
Voracious appetite for high-end consumer goods spurred by moneylenders and hire-purchase schemes.
The wide gap between people`s aspirations and actual capabilities.
The disintegration of traditional social support mechanisms as was prevalent in joint families.
Emergence of a trend towards nuclear families, alcohol abuse, financial instability and family dysfunction.
A growing population of the aged.
Failure of crops, huge debt burdens, growing costs of cultivation, and shrinking yield.
Two years ago, the National Crime Records Bureau noted that out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in the country, one involves a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. `Youth and middle-aged (30 to 44 years) are the prime groups taking recourse to the path of suicide. Of the total suicide victims, around 37.6 per cent are youths in the age group of 15 to 29 years,` the Bureau said in a report.
Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have much higher populations and far lower levels of literacy, report fewer suicides. In 2002, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accounted for 4.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, of the total number of suicides in the country.
But not everyone is convinced by these figures. `In northern Indian states, there is low level of registration of suicide deaths in police stations,` says Sunder Rajan, a retired Tamil Nadu police officer. `Therefore, no figures about suicides in the country can be relied upon for any scientific analysis of the problem.`
On its part, the National Crime Records Bureau has one main reason for the increasing suicide rate in the country: `Family problems.`
Psychologist Mathew Kurien of the Southern Medical Centre, Bangalore, agrees. `In this modern age,` Dr Kurien says, `children are not brought up peacefully. They are under pressure to deliver at school they are under pressure to appear for competitive examinations. After they reach puberty, no one in the family gives them any advice about the meaning of life.`
Dr Kurien`s argument is borne out by the fact that every year, when the results of secondary and intermediate school examinations are announced, counselling centres across the country are flooded with distress calls from students. `I get hundreds of calls from students who are contemplating suicide because they could not achieve the good scores expected by their parents,` says Elizabeth Vadakkekara, co-ordinator at Thrani, a counselling centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
Vadakkekara says the only way to make India, especially the southern region, less suicide prone is `to make life easy.` Of course, that is easier said than done.
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Source(s)
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/15spec.htm |
Marksman
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 5 Sep 2009 16:23:57 GMT Report for Abuse
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| Now I know why Poopie comes to LNP, to ease the mental pressure of living in the suicide capital.. i pity him now. :)))) |
Piyal
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 5 Sep 2009 16:46:50 GMT Report for Abuse
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I wonder why didn't he commit suicide yet,...
May be mentally retarded already,.. otherwise, no one will tolerate the abuse he get,..... |
Thivya
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5 Sep 2009 16:58:48 GMT Report for Abuse
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Grinding rural poverty leads to suicide in Sri Lanka.
In a remote village of southeastern Sri Lanka, D.M. Karunawathie, a 36-year-old mother of six, last month drank a lethal concoction of pesticides in a cornfield near her house. She was rushed to the nearest rural hospital at Uraniya and then transferred to the main district hospital at Badulla. But the poison had already damaged her vital organs and the medical staff was unable to save her life. She died four days later.
The tragedy is not an isolated one. Four other close family members have taken their lives over the past decade and the suicide rate is on the rise throughout the country. Karunawathie s fate highlights the grinding poverty and hardships confronting broad layers of Sri Lanka s rural population. She decided to kill herself as a way out of what had become an unbearable situation.
To reach the village of Baladangolla in Uva Province, one has to travel 45km by bus from Badulla to Kuravilgolla junction. Then one walks 5km along a gravel footpath that hardly merits the name. Most of the houses have mud walls and thatched roofs a few belonging to wealthier villagers are covered with tiles.
Karunawathie s house was among the most pitiful a small hut just 12 by 10 feet with walls of Madu leaves (a long leaf gathered from the jungle) and a hay roof. There was no door to the house, only a sheet of wood. Inside there was not a single chair or table.
The hut provided virtually no protection from the cold, rain or the snakes which are abundant in the nearby jungle. This type of construction is normally used by farming families as a temporary shelter to be near their fields during the harvest. But for Karunawathie, it was all her family could afford.
Her husband, D.M. Sudubanda, 48, has been unable to work since falling from a tree and breaking his leg, leaving Karunawathie the only breadwinner. Their eldest son D.M. Jayawardena, aged 20, committed suicide last year because he could not find any work. Their eldest daughter, Pathmalatha, just 16, is working as a domestic servant in a bungalow of a wealthy family in Badulla. Four younger children are aged from four to 11 years.
Karunawathie worked as a casual domestic servant in various houses in the village. She was constantly worried about her eldest son s death. The family could not afford even to bring her dead body from Badulla hospital to the village. The employer of her eldest daughter Pathmalatha sponsored the funeral at Badulla cemetery.
Sudubanda pointed out the situation his family now confronts. These days we are solely dependent on rice granted by the Funeral Aid Society in the village. The only other relief for us is the grant of 1,100 rupees ($US12) from Samurdhi (a limited government welfare program) once in three months.
Edited By - Thivya - 5 Sep 2009 17:00:57 GMT |
Thivya
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5 Sep 2009 17:00:21 GMT Report for Abuse
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Karunawathie had eight brothers and sisters, three of whom committed suicide in similar circumstances. In 1989, her brother D.M. Jayasekera, having failed to make a living from farming, ended his life by taking poison when he was 19. Two years later, her sister Premawathie, 28, took her own life by swallowing corn flour mixed with pesticide when drought destroyed the crop. Her brother Ariyadasa, 32, moved to his wife s village, Medaoya, but failed to find work and also took his life.
Most villagers in Baladangolla face a difficult situation. They depend on growing corn in the 60 acres of paddy field around the village but lack any irrigation and so are highly vulnerable to variations in rainfall. Last season they were unable to grow anything due to the country s drought.
Most villagers eat corn flour porridge for their main meal in many cases their only meal for the day. According to my guide, Sarath Wickremesinghe, children regularly collapse in school because they have not had anything to eat.
One villager explained: We have to eat corn just like pigs. If only we could manage to find some daily work, we could have a meal in the evening. There is no hope for tomorrow. Another commented: Our unemployed children do not even have qualifications to join the army. They have to leave school at year 2-4. Another villager added: Children are absent from school in rainy days because they don t have umbrellas. It is three and a half miles to the nearest school at Kuruwigolla.
There is no transport. If someone falls sick or has an accident they have to be carried to the rural hospital at Uraniya on a primitive stretcher a sack tied to two parallel poles carried by four people. Water is scarce and is drawn from wells more than 15 metres deep so it is often impossible to even wash patients. Some villagers explained: If someone fells ill while working in the field, we have to take him to the hospital without even washing the mud from his body. Then the hospital staff criticise us.
The villagers spoke with contempt about government officials. In a meeting of Samurdhi beneficiaries, officials from the Divisional Secretariat (local administrative office) and Samurdhi officers ask us why don t you make progress when you are provided with aid? They blame us, saying you are so lazy . But we work very hard whenever we can. How can we live with that pittance (the Samurdhi benefit)? We are indebted to the tune of about 2,000 rupees over a three month period even when we don t eat properly.
The incidence of suicide in this remote village is a sharp expression of a more general trend. Sri Lanka has the world s highest suicide rate, over 55 per 100,000 people well above the average, which ranges between 10 and 25 per 100,000. This rate has jumped dramatically over the past half century from 6.5 in 1950 to 9.9 in 1960, 19.1 in 1970, 35.1 in 1980, 43.3 in 1993 and to the current estimate of more than 55.
There has also been a significant change in the age of those committing suicide. In 1950-60, the highest rate was recorded among older people above 55 years, but in the next decade the group aged 30 to 55 years recorded the highest rate. Since 1970, the highest rate has been among young people 15-30 years and, in the 1980s, suicides among even younger children have started to increase.
The connection to the social problems generated by widespread poverty is clear. Badulla district is among the 10 districts that have suicide rates above the national average. Karunawathie s village, Baladangolla, is located in the Ridimahaliyadda Divisional Secretariat Division, which has the highest poverty level in the Badulla district. About 80 percent of people in the division are dependent on some form of welfare, either Samurdhi or Janasaviya, another poverty program. Tragically, a number conclude, like Karunawathie, that the only way out of their plight is to take their own lives.
T:))
Edited By - Thivya - 5 Sep 2009 17:03:21 GMT |
Marksman
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5 Sep 2009 17:02:07 GMT Report for Abuse
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Lolz Chennai slum dog thinks tamil nadu is manhatton lolz
Thivya, we dont claim SL to be like manhatton , yes there are suicides in SL,( take black piger buitches/dogs for example.)
but its totally not like in the CAPITAL OF SUICIDE ! LOL |
Thivya
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5 Sep 2009 17:02:43 GMT Report for Abuse
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Completed Suicide among Sinhalese in Sri Lanka: A Psychological Autopsy Study
Sri Lanka has the one of highest rates of suicide. Important factors associated with suicide were determined via the psychological autopsy approach (which had not been carried out previously in Sri Lanka). Over a 3-month period, in a catchment area, 31 suicides among Sinhalese were identified and 27 were investigated. Males were more likely to commit suicide and alcohol abuse and domestic violence were reported as contributory factors. We found it possible to use psychological autopsy methods to obtain information which can inform planned prevention measures.
http://www.atypon-link.com/GPI/doi/abs/10.1521/suli.2008.38.2.221
Edited By - Thivya - 5 Sep 2009 17:04:07 GMT |
Thivya
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5 Sep 2009 17:09:57 GMT Report for Abuse
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Suicide in Sri lanka - Facts and Trends
A study revealed substantial underreporting and the real extent of the problem and the actual rates are estimated to be 44-50 per 100000. Significantly, the proportion of youth committing suicide increased from 33 per 100000 in 1960 to 44 per 100000 in 1980.
Suicides are the fourth most frequent cause of death in hospitals in Sri Lanka. The separatist war in Sri Lanka, which has raged since 1972, has been responsible for the deaths of at least 50,000 people in 15 years. Deaths due to suicide, in the same period, are estimated to be 106000 -- twice the number due to war.
The rising incidence of suicide and pesticide poisoning led the Sri Lankan government to set up a special commission in 1995 to advise on ways to tackle the problems. In that year, suicides were the main cause of death among Sri Lankans aged 15-49 years, according to health ministry figures.
In the same year, pesticide poisoning ranked six among causes of hospital deaths, with 1,571 deaths and 15,730 cases. In six rural districts, however, pesticide poisoning was the main cause of hospital deaths.
According to Nalini Ellawela, director at Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, the country's premier counseling centre, most of the suicides are caused by love affairs gone wrong, poverty, parental pressures on marriage, unemployment, unwanted pregnancies, failure at examinations, fear of punishment, inability to pay loans and in recent years, women going to the Middle East to work.
However, the rate at which people continue to attempt suicide remains high, said Lakshmi Ratnayake, former chairman of Sri Lanka Sumithrayo and now head of the agency's unit that deals with rural communities.
Sri Lanka, which has a predominantly Buddhist population, reveals that a large number of suicides are among Buddhists, even though their religion does not favour suicide. The belief in rebirth and the lack of definite statements on suicide by Buddha makes suicide much less sinful than killing another person.
Worldwide, the exact number of people ending, attempting or thinking of ending their lives is not known. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death across the world, especially in the 15-35 year age group. As per WHO estimates, nearly one million people will commit suicide during the first year of this millennium. This amounts to an average of one death every 40 seconds and an attempt every three seconds. Deaths recorded due to suicide across the world indicate only the tip of the iceberg.
In every country, suicide is reported to the police, whereas the health sector conducts forensic examination for completed suicides and provides care for the attempted ones. Deaths due to suicide are underreported to avoid sociocultural stigma, escape police enquiries and legal harassment, and benefit from the insurance sector. They are also misclassified as accidents. Hence these official numbers are gross underestimates. |
Thivya
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5 Sep 2009 17:10:40 GMT Report for Abuse
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Sri Lanka unlocks brains of the dead to crack the secret code of suicide
It may sound morbid, even bizarre, but Sri Lankan scientists are going ahead anyway. In a bid to unravel the mystery behind LANAKA'S SOARING SUICIDE RATE HIGHEST IN SOUTH EAST ASIA anatomists will soon start picking the brains of the dead.
They will begin by extracting cells from adult cadaver brains and then get down to identifying 'susceptible genes' that are pushing Lankans to the brink.
The answer to the 10-fold rise in suicide rates from the 1950s to 1990s will emerge after 'microarray studies' are done on these cells, says Dr Ranil De Silva, Senior Lecturer of Anatomy at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Nugedoga.
The first-of-its kind project will be undertaken by the university in collaboration with scientists from the National University of Singapore, says Dr De Silva. 'An alarming 70,000 people have committed suicide from 1990 to 2000 in Sri Lanka, with an estimated 14 million suicide bids. The rate has increased by 10 times between 1950s to 1990s. To get to the root of the problem, we have decided to adopt a two-pronged approach. While the first would be an epidemiological study, the second one would involve taking brain cells of cadavers to zero in susceptible genes,' he says.
'The initial leads would be available in about six months,' adds Dr Silva, who heads the Neuroscience Society of Sri Lanka and is here for the national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society.
Also here for the annual conference is the National University of Singapore's Dr Zhu Yi Zhun, who says, 'by studying the new genes we would try to find out whether fear, anxiety, depression affects them which could trigger suicidal tendencies.'
'There are a lot of neuro factors... We have carried out a study of cadaver brains in Singapore where we have analyzed 20 brains. The initial groundwork is done and the project would be started in the next few months,' says Dr Zhun, who has already made two trips to the island.
'We have been granted one million Singapore dollars by the Ministry of Health, a large share of which would be utilized for the study,' he adds.
The study, Dr De Silva says, is fuelled by the knowledge that altered RNA expression levels can have profound influences on brain function. 'Therefore, a systematical search for genes of variable expression will provide candidate susceptibility genes that might influence many diseases of the human brain... Knowledge about variability in the expression of genes that are targets for drug action will help to develop drugs that can ve prescribed selectively to patients for whom they will be effective and safe,' he says. The epidemiological studies, Dr De Silva says, have already got off the ground with Sri Lankan experts preparing questionnaires for every hospital patient who has attempted suicide.
In the case of those who have died, the questionnaire would be passed on to the next of kin to assess trigger factors. The other problem scientists will focus on is the rising alcoholism level in Lanka and its possible connection to suicides, besides environment and genetic variants.
'Sri Lanka has one of the highest alcohol consumption in the world. A strong association between alcoholism and suicide has been noted and there has been a serious rise in the suicide rates in the 1990s along with the increase in the production and consumption of both licit and illicit alcohol. We hypothesize that environment and genetic variants may contribute significantly to increasing suicide and alcoholism in Sri Lanka,' says Dr De Silva.
Edited By - Thivya - 5 Sep 2009 17:11:45 GMT |
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5 Sep 2009 16:47:13 GMT