Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Prevent suicides) that was published in Newsband

Prevent suicides

Suicide should not be an answer to problems like mental distress or any severe illnesses. This is a modern world and there exists cure for all kinds of illnesses – even the most severe one.

One feels bad when bright young students resort to the extreme step. Today, educational institutions are increasingly marked by competitive pressures and financial and other demands that put a burden which some students are just not able to bear. The Government should deploy a Task Force to look into cases of suicide in educational institutions. There should be a dedicated system of counseling involving faculty members, students, parents and mental health professionals to cater to the needs of students; Right environment should be created for students with psychological needs. There should be a better awareness and sensitivity towards issues of social justice including gender, class and caste. This exercise needs to be scaled up to cover the entire spectrum of educational institutions in the country in order to address the underlying issues in a more meaningful and egalitarian manner.

A survey indicated that suicides have become the second leading cause of death among young adults in India. In India, suicides have become more common among educated and young adults.

An all-out effort should be launched to reach out to youths in distress, enabling close cooperation and collaboration between counseling services and the health services. India should find ways to address its shortage of mental health professionals. Counseling processes should assist students who have social, academic, linguistic, financial, physical and other difficulties.

When students who are not qualified sufficiently or have not scored high enough marks are admitted to institutions such as IIT (where majority of the students are very brilliant) they are unable to match the performance of their colleagues. They then feel depressed and attempt suicides. It is therefore necessary that only students with adequate merit who can successfully clear the courses in IITs be admitted in the first instance. It is much worse to admit students with inadequate capability since that leads to loss of life itself. Hence present reservation system for students needs to be revisited.

In India, much emphasis is being laid on suicide committed by farmers as compared to suicide committed by students. While in rural areas, farmer suicide is the major cause of death, in urban areas suicide committed by the students is the second major cause of death among youths. Thus, both these causes need proper attention of the Government.

First locate a student who is distressed. Next there should be regular counseling camps where such students could themselves go out and may discuss their problem relating to social, academic, financial or physical difficulties. This may prevent some of the students from committing suicide.