World Suicide Prevention Day | Let's talk about the disheartening rise in student suicides in India

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. A day dedicated to fostering global cooperation for action towards preventing suicides. For us Indians, this day should be taken as a timely reminder of what was recently termed 'an epidemic sweeping the country'.

Towards the end of August, a report on Student Suicides in India was released at the Annual IC3 Conference and Expo 2024, which featured a slew of alarming statistics. Including the heartbreaking fact that every 40 minutes in our country, a student willingly puts an end to their life.

Even today, September 10, the country woke up to another news of student suicide at IIT Guwahati, marking the 3rd such case at the premier educational institution this year.

Notably, the above-mentioned report has sourced all its data from the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, which uses data from the FIRs registered with the police. Suicide cases often go under-reported due to the social stigma surrounding it. So, it would be safe to say that the following numbers, which already paint a bleak picture, are probably a generous estimate.

• Road accidents are the biggest cause of death in youth across the world. But in India, it is suicide.

• In 2021, India recorded 13,000+ student suicides. This translates to 35 students suicides every day, and 1 every 40 minutes.

• The student suicide rate in India registers a 4% growth annually, which is twice the growth rate for overall suicide cases in India.

• Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu constitute a third of student suicides in India, registering the highest rates.

• Over the last 5 years, Jharkhand (207%) and Rajasthan (186%) have shown a worrisome growth trend in student suicides. Meanwhile, West Bengal has shown a promising 76% decline.

• Between 2012 and 2021, India recorded 97,571 student suicides. This was a 57% increase when compared to the previous decade (2002-2011).

• The last decade has seen an alarming surge of 113% in male student suicides while an equally concerning 79% rise in female student suicide cases.

Titled Student Suicides: An Epidemic Sweeping India, the report also talks about risk factors that tend to trigger student suicides. These can be emotional, psychological, financial, and social in nature. Some of them are forced career choices, academic stress around exams, bullying, financial stress, emotional neglect, undiagnosed psychiatric disorders, and lack of support from educational institutions.

As for the protective measures, the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 and anti-ragging regulations are welcome steps in the right direction. However, a strong career counselling and support system is still not a fixture in educational institutions across India. Ganesh Kohli, the founder of IC3 Movement, emphasises exactly on that. He says:

"It is imperative that we build a systematic, comprehensive, and robust career and college counselling system within each institution, while seamlessly integrating the same within the learning curriculum”.

According to a 21-country Gallop survey conducted in 2021, an impressive 83% of young people expressed a strong desire to 'seek help from others when facing mental health issues'. However, in the same survey, only 41% of young people in India felt the same, showing a strong inclination towards 'trying to deal with such issues on their own'.

What might be at the root of this reluctance to seek help when troubled by mental health issues? Social stigma? Lack of an accessible and effective support system? Or a mix of multiple contributing factors? This World Suicide Prevention Day, it is upon us as a nation to find out and save the thousands of promising young lives that are lost every year.