Hanging is the most prominent means of committing Suicide in India

Highlights:

7 main reasons why people commit suicide
India’s situation in suicide

In the continuation of World Suicide Prevention Day articles, we will discuss the causes of suicide. After going through various reports and studies, we found seven main reasons people commit suicide. Before we proceed further, it is essential to know that suicide is not a solution to any problem. If you need help, seek it from your family, friends, NGOs, professionals, and more, but never consider committing it.

7 main reasons why people commit suicide

1. Mental Illness

As per the reports, most people decide to end their life by attempting suicide shortly before committing it, rather than planning it extensively. Severe depression is believed to be the most common factor in committing suicide. Depression can make a person hopeless, cause emotional pain, and take away the sense of joy. It might make one feel that there is no other way to get rid of pain than ending their own life. Other than depression, Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia, Eating Disorders, and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can also cause mental illness, leading to suicide.

2. Suicide in response to an event

Some incidents can break a person. Such was with Adolf Hitler, he killed himself after defeat, and he knew that the allied forces would catch him. The sudden death of someone who is very close, deception, infidelity, and more can push a person over the edge who is already suffering depression.

3. Traumatic Stress

People who have had traumatic experiences like rape, childhood sexual abuse, war trauma, or physical abuse are at a greater risk for suicide even after many years of the trauma. Multiple trauma incidents, stress, or being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can increase the risk even further.

4. Loss or fear of Loss

An individual might decide to end their life after facing a significant loss or fear of loss. The loss could be financial loss, academic failure, job loss, being arrested or imprisoned, bullying, humiliation or shaming, loss of family or friends due to revealing sexual orientation, end of a romantic relationship or close friendship, or loss of social status.

5. Substance use

Alcohol and drugs can make a person over-emotional, and the person might attempt to end his own life. Once calmed and sobered, the person might feel emphatically ashamed. Whether these people will attempt suicide in the future is not predictable. They might try again if they use drugs or alcohol again.

6. Philosophical desire to die due to terminal illness

Some people decide to end their life due to the presence of a painful terminal illness from which little to no hope of reprieve exists. They want to take control of their life and end their suffering by ending their life. They think of committing suicide because they want to shorten their dying which will eventually take place.

7. A Cry for help

Sometimes people try to commit suicide not because they want to die but to seek help (Some might call it attention) from others. They want to show the world how much they are hurting by attempting suicide by inhaling poison, cutting veins near their wrists, and more. But often, the overdose of poison or too much bleeding takes their lives.

India’s situation in Suicide

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1 in every 3 of the total 1 39 123 people who died by suicide in 2019 took the step because of their family problems. Substance use and being ill were the other major known causes. Together they accounted for 23 %. Indebtedness or bankruptcy, poverty, and unemployment led to the suicides of 11,500 people, which is about 8.2 %.

Hanging (53.9 %) was the most prominent means of suicide, followed by consuming poison at 25.8 %, drowning at 5.2 %, and self-immolation at 3.8% in 2019.

Note: We do not want to glorify suicide in this series. Our sole purpose is to inform and educate you about suicide prevention and know the cause why people commit suicide.