While the mass suicide case of Burari left us pondering over a psychological condition called "Shared Psychotic Disorder" or the tendency of a delusional belief shared by more than one individual who are typically involved in a close relationship, experts believe that maximum suicide cases in India involve some mental disorder, the biggest being 'depression'. According to Dr Kuldip Kumar, Professor, Consultant Psychiatrist & HOD, Safdarjung Hospital, around 15 per cent of people suffering from depression and around 10 per cent of people suffering from schizophrenia commit suicide while Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Escorts Hospital and Chairperson of Fortis National Mental Health Council, believes that in 75 per cent of suicides committed due to some mental disorder, the reason is depression.
Dr Parikh also said in all the cases of suicide, 90 per cent suffer from some mental disorder. Whatever the case may be, experts believe the condition to be appalling.
“With the rate of suicides almost quadrupling over the past decade, it would be safe to estimate that suicidal tendencies are a growing reality of our society across all sections of the population, regardless of age, gender, or economic strata. In fact, research indicates that 90% of the suicides committed have an underlying psychiatric condition which may not have been diagnosed or treated" said Dr Parikh.
Besides recording a rise in the cases of suicides, the experts also recognize the victims of suicidal tendencies. According to Dr Kuldip Kumar, the age groups of 15-20 years and post 55 years are two age groups that are more prone to developing suicidal tendencies.
"In younger group, usually there is a pressure of academics or parental pressure or substance abuse which results in developing suicidal tendencies while in old age there is usually some chronic illness or financial issues or some personal issues translate into suicidal tendencies" said Dr Kumar.
According to the experts, people who develop suicidal tendencies generally exhibit some mental or physical symptoms and give warning signs before committing suicide. While the mental symptoms may be giving away precious possessions, isolating oneself from friends and family, dramatic changes in mood, too much fascination with death/suicide related music, movies and literature besides expressing feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, the physical changes may be change in sleeping or eating patterns.
"In many cases, patients are seen making statements like 'I hate my life', 'nothing matters anymore', and 'life is not worth living. These are alarming'" said Dr Parikh. As per Dr Kumar, there should be an immediate mental intervention if such statements become frequent.
Nevertheless, both the doctors believe that this situation can be controlled by taking small steps. The most important of all is to encourage the help seeking behavior by getting rid of the stigma attached to mental health.
"We need to encourage people to seek help if they are struggling with a problem. So help should not be restricted to professional mental health experts, but each one of us can even reaching out to a friend or a family member to seek support, without being dismissive or insensitive towards the person, can be beneficial" said Dr Parikh.
The experts also said that the initiative to talk about mental health problems and create awareness about them within the community and ensuring a sensitized approach to the challenges of mental health can also be undertaken to reduce suicide rates.