GANGTOK, 01 July: Justice SP Wangdi of the High Court of Sikkim directed the Department of Healthcare and Family Welfare to come up with concrete proposals to tackle the high rate of suicides in Sikkim and to treat suicides as a disease, an approach which will hopefully make the condition curable.
At a meeting convened with senior Health Department officials in his office in the High Court, Justice Wangdi explained that he felt it necessary to call the meeting since the High Court was growing concerned with the almost daily reporting of suicides in Sikkim, a situation which is alarming in itself and even more so since it is apparently not receiving enough professional attention. Justice Wangdi convened the meeting in collaboration with the Sikkim State Legal Services Authority of which he is also the Executive Chairman.
The High Court had called this high level meeting with the Health Secretary along with officials and psychiatrists and directed the departmental officials and doctors to come up with concrete formula and proposal of implementation along with awareness amongst the people within the next ten days.
Justice Wangdi commented that as suicide rates climb steeply in Sikkim, suicidal behaviour should be considered a disease on its own rather than a behavioural condition resulting from mood disorders. The latter approach, a commonly held misconception, makes a poor excuse for the general lack of attention being paid to suicides.
Health functionaries discussed the situation in detail from a medical point of view, detailing how the brains of people who have committed suicide have striking similarities, suggesting that it had a combination of common physical, mental and chemical conditions irrespective of what the triggers were. These “brain maps”, they added were noticeably distinct from the brains of people who have similar mood disorders but who die of natural causes.
Interestingly, they informed that most people with mood disorders never attempt suicide and that around 10 per cent of suicides have no history of mental illness.
The High Court has also directed the Health Department to coordinate efforts with the Sikkim State Legal Services Authority to create awareness on suicide as a curable disease and not a crime. SLSA with its extended arms of Para Legal Volunteers and panchayat plans is to reach out to students and youth sensitizing them on suicides.
At a meeting convened with senior Health Department officials in his office in the High Court, Justice Wangdi explained that he felt it necessary to call the meeting since the High Court was growing concerned with the almost daily reporting of suicides in Sikkim, a situation which is alarming in itself and even more so since it is apparently not receiving enough professional attention. Justice Wangdi convened the meeting in collaboration with the Sikkim State Legal Services Authority of which he is also the Executive Chairman.
The High Court had called this high level meeting with the Health Secretary along with officials and psychiatrists and directed the departmental officials and doctors to come up with concrete formula and proposal of implementation along with awareness amongst the people within the next ten days.
Justice Wangdi commented that as suicide rates climb steeply in Sikkim, suicidal behaviour should be considered a disease on its own rather than a behavioural condition resulting from mood disorders. The latter approach, a commonly held misconception, makes a poor excuse for the general lack of attention being paid to suicides.
Health functionaries discussed the situation in detail from a medical point of view, detailing how the brains of people who have committed suicide have striking similarities, suggesting that it had a combination of common physical, mental and chemical conditions irrespective of what the triggers were. These “brain maps”, they added were noticeably distinct from the brains of people who have similar mood disorders but who die of natural causes.
Interestingly, they informed that most people with mood disorders never attempt suicide and that around 10 per cent of suicides have no history of mental illness.
The High Court has also directed the Health Department to coordinate efforts with the Sikkim State Legal Services Authority to create awareness on suicide as a curable disease and not a crime. SLSA with its extended arms of Para Legal Volunteers and panchayat plans is to reach out to students and youth sensitizing them on suicides.
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