The State government has failed to take major steps to map suicides and work towards its prevention, despite the National Bureau of Criminal Records naming Andhra Pradesh as the state with the fourth largest number of suicides. In the light of the alarming increase in the number of suicides, many of young professionals and students, suicide mapping and suicide prevention strategies are essential. Though the city has many suicide prevention centres, the rate of suicides is increasing.
Dr Ashok Karim Chandani, a clinical psychologist said, “There is no policy for the prevention of suicide in India. But to be fair to the government, it has been taking steps to identify mental illnesses. In fact, the National Health Initiative and the Urban and Rural Health Initiative allotted huge amounts of money to mental wellness. Once mental health is addressed, it will simultaneously bring down the suicide rate.” Dr C. Venkat Subbaiyah, lecturer and clinical psychologist at the Institute of Mental Health, Erragadda, says the government must understand that suicide is not a law and order issue but a mental issue. “It is the result of depression and can be prevented at the earliest stages given the proper support and care,” he said.
Ms Aparna of the Marko Foundation, a suicide prevention centre in the city, says the government treats suicides “as just another piece of statistics. Suicides are classified on the basis of age and gender of the victim. When we wanted to know the details regarding high suicide regions in the state, the criminal records bureau said it did not have any ready statistics. We are currently in the process of building the database ourselves.”
So far, Vikarabad seems to have the highest rate of suicides in Telangana, she said. Monday is World Suicide Prevention Day. So, is this just a meaningless ritual? No, says Akheel Siddique, director of Roshni, a suicide prevention centre. “We hope to spread awareness through vigils or marches and the truth is, people want to be heard. We help nearly 800 people across age groups, genders and backgrounds every day. While most of them are from Hyderabad, we have started getting calls from around the world,” he said.