08 Apr Youth Suicides in India
This article covers ‘Daily current affairs’ and the topic details ’Increasing suicides among youth in India’ This topic has relevance in Society, Ethics and essay paper of UPSC CSE exam..
Why in the news?
The issue of suicide in India is a concerning matter, India has one of the highest number of suicides in the world. As per NCRB data, In 2022, 1.71 lakh suicides were recorded,in which 41% were committed by the young adults below the age of 30, marking a significant 27% jump from 2018.
But these number are underestimated because of less reporting of suicidal deaths becsuse of inadequate registration system, lack of death certification and the social stigma attached to suicides in India.
A young Indian dies by suicide every 8 minutes which is a loss to family, society and Country at large. This data points out the graveness of situation of mental health of students in India.
Reasons for Increase in suicide rates in India:
Suicide is a complex human phenomenon which has no single factor, but multiple factors like biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors.
Mental health problems(54%)
Family issues(36%)
Academic stress(23%
Social and lifestyle factors(20%)
Violence(22%)
Economic distress(9.1%)
Relationship factors(9%)
Other issues- Physical and sexual abuse, exam failures, intergenerational issues, other social-cultural factors such as Caste.
Socio-cultural factors for suicides among women
There are specific sociocultural factors for suicides of women in such as arranged and early marriages because of familial pressure, young motherhood, low social status, domestic violence and economic dependence. Apart from this, gender stereotypes compelling rigid gender roles and gender based discrimination have also contributed in suicides among women.
Problematic education system
- An education system just focusses on scoring marks, often through rote learning and less focussing on the overall development of the child.
- The Indian education system poses immense pressure on students which severely affects the mental well being of the students. The cut throat competition in some of the competitive exams like IIT JEE, NEET for the students coming from Lower middle class families creates immense pressure.
- These exams are a way to alleviate their socio-economic status. But because of the scant number of seats in these exams only a fraction of students are able to clear them. Others who fail become prey to societal and peer pressure often leading students to take up their lives.
Social media as a bane
Last decade has seen a proliferation of internet users in India. A metaanalysis of 19 states has revealed that almost 20% of college students are net addicts, one-third are cyber bullied and one-third of all these are suicidal.
Teens who use social media for 2 hours daily are more suicidal.
Sensational reporting of suicides of popular celebrities has an impact on the psychology of people. After the sensational reporting of death of a famous actor there was increase in searches on google related to “how to commit suicide.
What Could be done?
Imparting Emotional intelligence- like problem solving , impulse control and emotional regulation along with improving help seeking behavior.
Early identification and care- helps people to work on depression and anxiety and also there are evidences people getting care from friends and family members tend to be less vulnerable to commit a suicide.
Healthy lifestyle- adopting a healthy lifestyle such as a good diet, regular exercising, yoga and meditation improves mental health and reduces suicides in young.
Improving family environment- by reducing domestic violence, decrease in patriarchal norms and alcohol consumption leads to reduction suicidal tendencies.
Providing economic assistance –to economically distressed people
Educational reforms- making education as a means for overall development of a child rather than just for quantitative assessment can create a huge impact.
Societal changes– to reduce stigma on the basis of caste, gender and sexuality of a person.
In this capitalistic, materialistic world where lifestyles are based on show-off culture. There is a need of implementing educational, societal and behavioral changes among citizens to cope with the mental health pressures and suicidal thought.
Download plutus ias current affairs eng med 8th April 2024
Mains question:
India is considered as suicide capital of the world by World health organisation. Highlight the situation of suicides among young Indians, also recommending some measures to solve them. (15 marks /250 words)
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