INCREASE IN SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN TAMILNADU

RESEARCHER NAME: RANJITHKUMAR S

REGISTER NUMBER: HB21135

ABSTRACT:
Suicide is a major social and health issue. Though suicide is not a answer to all problems, Suicide
rate has been increasing tremendously in TamilNadu due to many reasons. This research studies
about the increase in suicide attempts in TamilNadu. There are many psychological and other
factors that induces suicide which are discussed in this research. This research is done through
survey of 50 respondents by online mode. A primary data was collected in the form of
questionnaire and their results are discussed in this research in detail. Some suggestions are also
given in this research paper. Suicide is defined as a self-injurious act with some evidence of
intent to die.

KEYWORDS: Suicide, Tamilnadu, tremendous increase.

INTRODUCTION:

The word suicide is derived from Latin word “suicaedere”, which means To kill oneself . The
most major increase in suicide mortality is because of socioeconomic factors and behavioural
factors . Among teenagers and adults under 35 years of age, suicide is a leading major cause of
the death among the top ten other causes of death. More than a million deaths are annually
reported of suicide, 20% are Indians in which Tamilnadu is the major contributor.In India
Suicide rate has been increased in large numbers in the last two decades, with very high rates in
some southern regions .

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the state of Tamilnadu have registered
a consistently higher number of suicidal deaths during the last few years. Last year it was
reported that in Lucknow, some statistical figures are inaccurate and wrong. This causes the
suicide issues to be underestimated and, to get it ignored by the government, although this
problem seems to be universal. Features of deaths due to suicide are changing constantly which
shows social change and cultural developments. There are few authors who wrote and suggest
somethings relatimg to suicide.

Prichard and Amanullah suggested that, to avoid the under-reporting of suicides, both formal
suicide verdicts and other violent death should be considered together because the other violent
deaths may include hidden suicides.

Suicide is a complex and multi-dimensioned event, so the approach for understanding suicide
must be multidisciplinary. Suicide is a serious global health problem. Its incidence among adult
and teenage people is keep on increasing. Understanding its factors and reasons helps early
detection and prompt treatment of high-risk youngsters.

It has been seen that a large percentage of those who die by suicide have an undiagonised,
untreated mental health illness, said psychologist Kamna Chhibber, adding that it is imperative
we encourage help seeking and focus on the early identification of mental health illnesses.
Suicide becoming a major public health concern over the last couple of years, the recent NCRB
data on death by suicide has shifted the complete focus on the suicide control.

Suicide affects all age groups in the population, but the statistics shows that rates clearly rise with
the increasing age. Suicide under the age of five is hard to find. Most of the literature on youth
suicide refers to school age children and adolescents. As these young people are by nature
vulnerable to mental health problems, and that too especially during the years of adolescents .

Adolescents is the period in life which is characterised by movement, changes and transitions
from one state to another, in several domains at the same time. India has one of the world`s
highest suicide rates for youtg aged fifteen to twenty-five, according to National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
1.SUICIDE IN SOUTH INDIA – C.R.Soman, published by Indian J psychiatry, in this
literature studies from Tamil Nadu, south India, have reported the world`s highest suicide rate.
Through regular home visits, every death that occurred in the community was captured by local
resident health workers and the cause of death assigned. Suicide rates by age and sex and relative
share of suicide deaths to all-cause deaths in men and women were calculated. Their analysis
shows that the level of under-reporting of suicides in rural Kerala is much less than that reported
in Tamil Nadu.

2. SUICIDE PREVENTION IN TAMIL NADU – Ria Vaidya published by London school of

hygiene, in this, Researchers investigating suicide in Tamil Nadu have reported suicide rates that
are up to nine times the reported national average and which are higher than the official suicide
rate of every country in the world (World Health Organization 2015). Age-specific suicide trends
are very different in men in comparison to women. Young women and the elderly are at
particularly high risk for suicide, although both sexes all ages groups display rates that are much
higher than global norms. This report aims to develop a suicide prevention strategy that can be
adopted by the state government in Tamil Nadu, tailored to the setting by building upon evidence
from research conducted within Tamil Nadu on suicide rates.

3.ANALYSIS OF NEWS MEDIA REPORTS OF SUICIDE AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE –

Lakshmi vijayakumar published in Inernational journal of epidemiology, volume 36.This study
used a systematic search of online news media reports (versions of newspapers, magazine and
other digital publications) of suicidal behaviour during India’s COVID-19 lockdown. Increase in
online news media reports of suicides and attempts during COVID-19 lockdown may indicate an
increase in journalists’ awareness about suicide or more sensational media reporting or may be a
proxy indicator of a real community increase in suicidal behaviour. It is difficult to attribute
changes in demographic profile and methods used only to changes in journalists’ reporting
behaviour and should be further explored.

4. SUICIDE RATES IN RURAL TAMIL NADU- Vendhan Gajalakshmi International journal

of mental health system. This is the second largest study to date that has used verbal autopsy to
estimate mortality rates in India. Trained non-medical field interviewers interviewed surviving
spouses, close associates or neighbours, and wrote the verbal autopsy reports in the local
language (Tamil). The reports were reviewed independently by two physicians to arrive at the
probable underlying cause of death. About 5% of the data were randomly selected for re-
interview.

5.ASSESSING QUALITY OF SUICIDE NEWS IN INDIA – Gregory Lakshmi. In this

literature, Suicide rates in India are among the highest in the world, resulting in an estimated
250,000 suicide deaths annually.The objective of this study was to assess the quality of
newspaper reporting of suicide-related news in India against World Health Organization suicide
reporting guidelines. They used content analysis to assess the quality of suicide reporting against
World Health Organization guidelines in nine of the most highly read daily newspapers in the
southern state of Tamil Nadu between June and December 2016.

6. FORECASTING SUICIDE RATES IN INDIA – Prafula kumar. This paper examines the
trend of suicide rate and characteristics of suicide victims in India, based on the longitudinal time
series data over the last 50 years—collected from the National Crime Record Bureau Reports.
Yearly statistics show a concerning increasing pattern of suicidal deaths in India which is higher
in comparison to the global trend. There is limited evidence regarding historical analysis of
suicide or any forecasting for suicide in India towards predicting the possible risks of death due
to suicide.

RESEARCH GAP:

The above research papers done by various authors tried to find different rate of change in
suicide attempts in various years in Tamil Nadu and India as whole as well, various reasons for
suicide. They also analysed the psychological state of suicide attempted persons and also
discussed how the suicide news were shown in media. It provides a wider scope of effects of
suicide attempts.

But this research shows the increase in suicide attempts in Tamil Nadu and arrived statistical
conclusion for clear expalanation and understanding. This research covers upto 50 respondents at
different age. This research also shows the reason for suicide, method of suicide and also
provides some of the suggestions for suicide rate reduction.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES:

This research intends to find the exact reason behind the increase in suicide attempts among
people at various age in tamilnadu. Through this study, we can understand what the major
concerns of tremendous increase in suicide attempts.

OBJECTIVES:
 1. To evaluate the rate of increase in suicide attempts.
2. To address the reason behind suicide
3. To know the magnitude and the socio-cultural factors of the problem of suicide

4. To estimate the rates and age-specific incidence of suicide and also to provide the
suggestions to prevent the suicide rate.

METHODOLOGY:

The data is collected through online survey by sharing a questionnaire in the pattern of google
forms which has various questions to arrive at desired results of this research. It was circulated
through whatsapp amd email to various respondents at different age category in tamilnadu . For
clear explanation secondary data is gathered from sources including articles, journals, and the
internet. The google forms link was shared and their responses were recorded.
REFERENCES AND FINDINGS:

TABLE 1

SOCIO ECONOMIC VARIABLES:

1.AGE

INTERVALS NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

Below 18 2 3.8%

18-30 28 52.8%

30-45 12 22.6%

Above 45 11 20.8%

TOTAL 53 100%

2.GENDER

CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

Male 26 49.1%

Female 27 50.9%

TOTAL 53 100%

3.EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

SSLC 7 13.2%

HSC 9 17%

GRADUATE 26 49.1%

POST GRADUATE 8 15.1%

ILLITERATE 1 1.9%

OTHERS 2 3.8%

TOTAL 53 100%

4.OCCUPATION

CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

PRIVATE 21 39.6%

PUBLIC SERVANT 6 11.3%

PROFESSION 5 9.4%

OTHERS 21 39.6%

TOTAL 53 100%

5.INCOME
 CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

BELOW ONE LAKH 7 13.2%

ABOVE ONE LAKH 4 7.5%

BELOW FIVE LAKHS 11 20.8%

ABOVE FIVE LAKHS 16 30.2%

NONE 15 28.3%

TOTAL 53 100%

6.MARITAL STATUS

CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

SINGLE 33 62.3

MARRIED 20 37.3

TOTAL 53 100%

7.FAMILY TYPE

CATEGORY NO. OF. RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

ALONE 8 15.1%

NUCLEAR 36 67.9%

JOINT 9 17%

TOTAL 53 100%

Source: Primary data

Interpretation: From the above table we received responses of male and female 49.1% and
50.9% respectively. We can say that the people with educational graduation have attempted
Suicide in more 49.1%. People living in a nuclear family affected a lot than of others. People
who Are unmarried i.e, age category of 18- 30 have attempted suicide in larger percentage
52.8%.

People in a private sector jobs 39.6% affected a lot in attempting suicide. Percentage of People
With the income of above five lakhs is 30.2%
TABLE 2.
PROBLEMS OF SUICIDE:
QUESTIONS AGREE % NEUTRAL % DISAGREE %

1.Suicide is the 8 15.1% 27 50.9% 18 34%

only answer to
all the
problems

2.Suicide 36 67.9% 8 15.1% 9 17%

among
educated
people is more
than who is not
educated

3.Do you think 40 75.5% 9 17% 4 7.5%

farmers commit

suicide than
other people

Source: primary data

Interpretation: In this research,34% of people were disagreed for suicide is the only answer to

All the problems and 50.9% of them were neutral. 67.9% of them agreed that suicide among

Educated people is more than who is not educated. 75.5% of them agreed that farmers commit
Suicide than other people.

TABLE 3

PERSONAL PERFORMANCE:

QUESTION YES % NO % MAYBE %

1.Have you 19 35.8% 24 45.3% 10 18.9

participated
in any
mental
health
programs
like WHO
MiNDbank

2.Have you 19 35.8% 23 43.4% 11 20.8%

ever told
someone
that youre
going to
commit
suicide

Source: primary data

Interpretation: It is evident from the table that 45.3% of people have participated in mental

Health Programmes. 43.4% of them haven’t disclosed their decision of suicide and 35.8% of t
Them did it.
TABLE 4
OPINION ON SUICIDE:
1.How often Once in a year Frequently Never
have you had
this thought
of suicide
10 18.9% 27 50.9% 16 30.2%
 2.How did Feel relief Regret at being alive None
you feel after
your attempt
9 17% 26 49.1% 18 34%

3.Which of Change in Withdrawal from Diminished ability to

these signs sleeping patterns family/friends concentrate
you’ve
noticed
15 28.3% 27 50.9% 11 20.8%

4.What Almost died Slight injuries None

happened in
your previous
attempts

17 32.1% 17 32.1% 19 35.8%

Source: primary data
Interpretation: It is clear from the table that 50.9% of people often had this thought of suicide
And 18.9% of them had that thought rarely that is once in a year. 49.1% were regretted at being
Alive after their attempt.50.9% of people noticed withdrawal from family/ friends as their
changing sign After suicidal thought. 28.3% of them noticed change in their sleeping
patterns.32.1% of people suffered slight injuries in their previous attempts. Same 32.1% of them
were almost died in their previous attempt.
TABLE 5
EXPERIENCE ON SUICIDE
1.What Alcohol/drug Emotional distress Abuse/discrimination others
makes problem i.e,divorce, breakup
you to
attempt
suicide

No. Of. % No. Of. % No. of . % No. Of. %

Respondents Respondents Respondents Respondents

3 5.7% 34 64.2% 7 13.2% 9 17%

2.What Feel hopeless like Cannot imagine Feel lonely Others

were your there is no point in any solution to the
thoughts living problems
 on suicide
13 24.5% 21 39.6% 12 22.6% 7 13.2%

3.If Extreme anxiety Excessive drug usageNeglect of physical Others

depression health
seems
possible
which of
these signs
you’ve
noticed

22 41.5% 10 18.9% 14 26.4% 7 13.2%

Source: Primary data

Interpretation: 64.2% of people said that emotional distress i.e, divorce, breakup are the things
Which makes them to attempt suicide. 13.2% of them were due
to alcoholism/discrimination.39.6% of people felt that they cannot imagine any solution
to their problem. 24.5% Of them felt hopeless like there is no point in living.41.5% of people
noticed extreme anxiety when they have depression. 26.4% of Them Noticed neglecting of their
physical health.
TABLE 6
METHOD OF SUICIDE
1.Method of Hanging Jumping from Poisoning/drug Drowning Others
suicide great height overuse
15 28.3% 8 15.1% 20 37.7% 3 5.7% 7 13.2%
Source: Primary
Interpretation: 37.7% of people opted poisoning as their method of suicide. 28.3% opted
hanging As their method of suicide.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Engage in self-care activities using the resources available to you.

2. To seek help sooner than later
3. Suicide prevention programs
4. National alliance for suicide prevention.
 5. By increasing the helpline
6. Estabilishing community such as centre for mental health lae and policy (CMHLP)

FINDINGS:

It is found from the collected responses from samples that;

1. There has been an observable and rising trend of suicide rates in tamilnadu
2. It indicates that suicide rate will still keep on increasing unless there exist proper plan and
proper awareness among people
3. People are committing suicide largely for emotional distree such as breakup and divorce
and not for being poor or having less amount of money.

4. Respondents with the age less than 18 are committing suicide due to pressure and
emotional distress.
5. There was no will power to handle the emotional distress and that contributes to suicide
largely

LIMITATIONS:

There are certain limitations to this study:This research is restricted within the geographical
boundaries of tamilnadu and the samples are collected within that. The another limitation is that
there are lakhs of people with varied perceptions. people also varies with varies cultural and
economic changes.

CONCLUSION:

The present analysis finds that there is no visible substantial relief for suicide deaths during the
coming years in India. On the other hand, more extensive exploration of sample cases may
provide important information for suicide prevention. Availability of detailed and more inclusive
data will be highly useful for analysis and suicide preventive policies. Investment in public
health care and other welfare activities like education and employment generation willyield
visible positive results in suicide control.

REFERENCE:

1.Shanbhag VL.
Title: Suicide and teenagers.

Publisher: BMJ Jounals.

2.Deepak Nallaswawmy Veeraiyan and Subha Manoharan

Title: suicidal thoughts vs. Positive thoughts

Website: www.researchgate.net

3.K, Arunkumar, T. Malliga.

Title : Impact of stress of human living

4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00540/full

5.https://news.ohsu.edu/2022/03/16/ohsu-researchers-find-startling-increase-insuicideattemptsby-
pre- teenchildren-nationwide

6.https://nbcmontana.com/amp/news/nation-world/cdc-saw-51-increase-in-
suicideattemptsbyadolescent- girlsduring-pandemic

7. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/suicide.html

8. https://suicideprevention.nv.gov/Youth/Myths/

9. https://blog.ipleaders.in/suicide-youth-growing-threat/

10. https://www.rethink.org/news-and-stories/blogs/2019/oct/i-was-lucky-many-
arenotsimongray-onsurviving- suicide/