SUICIDE IN INDIA

   




 
          In India, about 800000 people commit suicide worldwide every year, from the number 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.

         Estimates for number of suicides in India vary. For example, one study projected 187,000 suicides in India in 2010,while official data by the Government of India claims 134,600 suicides in 2010. 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 22nd).The Government of India classifies a death as suicide if it meets the following three criteria:
1-it is an unnatural death,
2-the intent to die originated within the person,
3-there is a reason for the person to end his or her life. The reason may have been specified in a suicide note or unspecified.
If one of these criterion is not met, the death may be classified as death because of illness, murder or in another statistical category.

       India's suicide rate per 100,000 people compared to other countries, according to the World Health Organization, Geneva. Peeter Värnik claims China, India, Russia, United States, Japan, and South Korea are the biggest contributors to the absolute number of suicides in the world. Värnik claims India's adjusted annual suicide rate is 10.5 per 100,000, while the suicide rate for the world as a whole is 11.6 per 100,000.The southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along with eastern state of West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram have a suicide rate of greater than 16 while in the Northern States of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the suicide rate is less than 4.Puducherry reported the highest suicide rate at 36.8 per 100,000 people, followed by Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The lowest suicide rates were reported in Bihar (0.8 per 100,000), followed by Nagaland, then Manipur. Rates of suicides among women in India are among the highest in the world. Surpassed only slightly by Nepal, India ranks second globally for its female suicide rate of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 people, controlling for population growth and aging. In absolute numbers of deaths, India is by far the leader for suicide among women, accounting for more than 100,000 deaths. In comparison, China, the country with the second-highest number of female suicides, has just half that number.

       This is a list of States and Union Territories of India ranked according to suicide rate as on 2012. The rate is calculated as number of suicides for every 100,000 people. The list is compiled from the 2012 Suicidal Deaths in India Report published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Government of India. Top three States with highest suicide rates are Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively, while Bihar recorded lowest suicide rates.

1 Maharashtra 43.2
2 Tamil Nadu 24.9
3 Kerala 24.3
4 Tripura 23.0
5 Chhattisgarh 22.9
6 Karnataka 21.2
7 Mizoram 17.0
8 Andhra Pradesh 16.6
9 West Bengal 16.5
10 Goa 15.8
11 Sikkim 38.4
12 Madhya Pradesh 13.3
13 Odisha 12.2
14 Gujarat 11.8
15 Haryana 10.9
16 Assam 10.5
17 Arunachal Pradesh 10.3
18 Himachal Pradesh 7.7
19 Rajasthan 7.0
20 Meghalaya 4.8
21 Uttarakhand 4.2
22 Jharkhand 4.1
23 Punjab 3.7
24 Jammu and Kashmir 3.5
25 Uttar Pradesh 2.2
26 Manipur 1.6
27 Nagaland 1.3
28 Bihar 0.8
29 Puducherry 36.8
30 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 23.6
31 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 17.6
32 Daman and Diu 12.6
33 Delhi 9.9
34 Chandigarh 7.4
35 Lakshadweep 1.3

          Although there is no miracle cure for suicide in India, stronger surveillance and a deeper understanding of what’s driving so many people to kill themselves is crucial for developing programs and policies to prevent suicide. Such intervention improvements will need to be sensitive to India’s unique cultural and socioeconomic position in order to address specific barriers such as economic instability, women’s rigid gender roles, and mental health stigmatization. Without such advances, India’s high suicide rates will only continue to rise.