Growing rate of suicides has emerged as a major concern with India recording the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia in 2012, according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO )report.
Also, a study in the Lancet indicated that suicide rates are highest in the 15-29 age group in India.
With World Suicide Prevention Day, observed each year on September 10, Mental Health and Behavioural Science institue of Fortis Healthcare has conducted a survery which revealed that a large majority of 91 per cent respondents of the total sample size (3000 adults) consider suicide or self-harming behavior an act of impulsivity.
Only 14 per cent participants said that were able to identify someone who has attempted or committed suicide around them.
Further, 58 per cent of the respondents do not consider suicide attempts or thoughts as a sign of any illness despite increasing evidence suggesting suicide attempts are result of an imbalance in their brain chemicals.
On the contrary, 86 per cent believe that attempting suicide is an act of weakness, and 85 per cent felt that self-harm or suicide attempts are acts of attention seeking behavior.
"This indicates the attitude of a majority of people towards suicide, such issues being shrouded in misconception, with a lack of awareness about such behavior. There is a strong need to educate people about the nature of suicidal behavior, to enable a better understanding and thereby ensure a more empathetic and supportive attitude towards suicidal behavior.
"Moreover, spreading awareness and overcoming the hesitation to talk about such issues would empower individuals to be better able to help people who might be contemplating suicides," said Dr Samir Parikh, Director of the institute.
According to Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO, South-East Asia Region, worldwide, the prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to lack of awareness of suicide as a major problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it.
"The first step in this battle is to create a national strategy, stating a clear commitment to suicide prevention. Suicide prevention requires intervention also from outside the health sector and calls for an innovative, comprehensive multisectoral approach, including both health and non-health sectors, e.G. Education, labour, police, justice, religion, law, politics and the media," Singh said.
