Prevention of suicides

Dr Sridhar Raju is a well known psychiatrist in Warangal. He was the first to establish a hospital to treat chronic patients by admitting them in his hospital, and also the first psychiatrist in the entire State to establish a well-equipped hospital for them. He also organises programs outside his hospital to help common people understand and overcome psychological problems. On June 23, he organised a workshop in Kakatiya University on "Personality Building in the present Socio-political Scenario". Psychiatrists from Warangal and other parts of the State were invited.

Dr Uday from Nellore, Dr Kishan from Karimnagar, Dr Jagadish and Dr Manmohan Raju from Warangal interacted with students of Kakatiya University. Prof Venkataratnam, the Vice-Chancellor, inaugurated the workshop. He advised students to take advantage of the workshop where five eminent psychiatrists were present. Psychologists addressed the gathering through power point presentations and focussed their message on suicides. The agitation in Telangana for a separate State has claimed nearly 1000 lives; these youths committed suicide. In their suicide notes they are said to have stated that they were taking their life for the sake of a separate State. Politicians blame one another for this loss.

This is really a disturbing trend and stopping it is a gigantic problem. The question is why people resort to suicide. A psychologically normal person never attempts it. According to Sigmund Freud, only those who possess a strong death wish in their unconscious minds commit suicides. There are life wish and death wish in every person's mind.

More people wish to live than to die. In some people we find a strong desire to kill their enemies. When it is not possible, they may kill themselves. Psychiatrists have identified the people who are prone to suicide. Those who tried to commit suicide in the past, who have highly irritable nature, who have lost their loved ones, faced financial upheavals, who possess a sense of guilt or self-hatred, who have a fixation on themes of death, people who write their will and give away their material possessions, people who withdraw from normal daily activities, who are addicted to alcohol and drugs are prone to suicide. More men than women are resorting to suicide. Youth between 15 and 25 years are vulnerable.

Students of corporate colleges and staying in hostels are committing suicide unable to cope with their studies. Now the problem is why young men with a strong desire to see the separate state of Telangana are committing suicide one after the other. Politicians recurrently create hopes among young men that a Telangana State is round the corner. But even after years there is no trace of it. This inordinate delay is creating frustration among youth. Another reason is that youth are made to believe that there are lots of hurdles in the way of a separate State. The youth kill themselves because they cannot kill those obstructing creation of a separate Telangana.

The psychiatrists asserted that glorification or glamourising of suicides is bad. Nowadays a person becomes a martyr if he/ she commits suicide for a cause. When a young man commits suicide and mentions in his suicide note that he is ending his life for the sake of Telangana, politicians treat him as a great hero who sacrificed his life for a great cause. TV channels glorify his death. His funeral procession is telecast.

This hype creates in others a desire to commit suicide if they are psychologically prone to it. Therefore, if suicides of young men are to be prevented, we should not ignore the danger signals (don't assume that the crisis will pass), and try to discuss suicide; hide sleeping pills, pesticides, kerosene and petrol; make sure the potential victim is not left alone; don't hesitate to call for professional help. One study has shown that 50% of all attempted suicides among teenagers are by those who come from broken homes. Some experts believe that the typical suicidal adolescents may not grasp the nature of death and that suicide may thus be a cry for help or perhaps a way of trying to take revenge on the world.

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