Suicide – The Way Out

Suicide- The Way Out

By Rajat Mohanta
Today the word suicide doesn’t even grab your attention anymore. We are all so used to this word in our daily life that it seems like a usual stuff now. But for people who are about to lose their friend or about loose themselves, it is a big deal.
About 800000 people commit suicide worldwide every year, of these 135,000 (17%) are residents of India, a nation with 17.5% of world population. Between 1987 and 2007, the suicide rate increased from 7.9 to 10.3 per 100,000, with higher suicide rates in southern and eastern states of India. In 2012, Tamil Nadu (12.5% of all suicides), Maharashtra (11.9%) and West Bengal (11.0%) had the highest proportion of suicides. Among large population states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala had the highest suicide rates per 100,000 people in 2012. The male to female suicide ratio has been about 2:1.
According to WHO data, the age standardized suicide rate in India is 16.4 per 100,000 for women (6th highest in the world) and 25.8 for men (ranking 22th). And about 46,000 suicides occurred each in 15-29 age groups in 2012. Among men, 40 per cent of suicides were among people age 15-29. For women, it was nearly 60 per cent.
Does coming across this word every now and then, reading it in newspaper and hearing it over news channels has changed the way of our thinking? Have parents understood that their children are under so much pressure of successes?
The answer is No. The demands of overbearing parents has caused a suicide epidemic among students in India. After all our 12 years school life only few of us get the opportunity to get into top colleges. Only few of us get to fulfill the expectations of parents and other family members. Family members and friends should help stress out the students. But it’s always the other way around. It’s the family who makes student more depress. Almost daily, the students are made remember their failure, unable to bear the shame, the fear of relative’s stereotype eyes, failing to get to reputed university, they choose only one way out, they quit. They commit a suicide.
Let’s say On the other hand there are students who get good marks and get chosen by university. Grab some good courses which after graduation will provide them with highly paid jobs. But there are students who commit a suicide after getting into a well reputed college too. And this number is huge. The number of students commit suicide due to Failure in Examination in a year is 2,403. Why do they commit suicide? When they get into a good college their parents expect more out of them. The pressure breaks them. Even after all hard work they do not achieve the targeted goal set by their parents. They chose a way out from all the passing comments on them and being a disappointment to the family by stopping the entry all the noises in their ear and shutting the mind for further possess. Putting end to the pain they commit a suicide.
Even after they graduate. Suicides don’t stop. Approximately 2,207 commit suicide due to unemployment. A jobless family member is considered the black sheep of the family. How not to be a disappointment to the family? You can’t, Family makes you completely realize everyday that you can’t really do that in the time period of their life span by all means possible. Easy way out? Another suicide.
The average global suicide rate is 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people, with suicide being the 4th leading cause of death in the 15-19 age groups.
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet indicates that the suicide rate in the 15-19 groups living around Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India, was 148 per 100,000 for women, and 58 per 100,000 for men.
What stood out in the data was that not only were the rates extremely high, but that rates for young women were almost three times higher than rates for young men. This is the opposite of global rates, in which men are three times higher than those for women.
Suicide deaths accounted for between 50 to 75 percent of all deaths in young women in the 15-19 age groups.
For girls, that pressure to succeed is even greater than for boys, a factor that explains the huge discrepancy in suicides between boys and girls, says Dr Anuradha Bose, and a pediatrician who contributed to the Lancet report. “The girls feel extra pressure because at the first hint of failure they are removed from school, while boys will receive any spare resources a family might have for extra help and tuition. “The girls meanwhile have few options except marriage – often at a young age – and domestic service. Suicide is one way out.
We enforce laws for saving girl child. But these statistics are clearly screaming out that just saving a girl child at the time of birth isn’t enough. You, your parents and your whole family of relatives need to give them equal opportunities as boys. Their fight for their future will only pressurize them more and one day they will choose suicide as the way out their problems from this narrow minded society.
Clearly, this disturbing data points to an urgent need for suicide prevention programs, in schools and colleges. But more than that guys if you feel like suicidal talk to your friends. Make your parents realize that even if you have failed this time. It doesn’t mean you are looser. They are your parents, they love you. They will understand. Don’t just give up in fear. Not everybody is made to do the same work. You can pursue your desired ambition and achieve success. Just remember, this failure isn’t the end. It’s just beginning of new start; just keep your hope up.

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