YOUTH’S SUICIDAL TENDENCIES – CAUSES AND SOLUTION

Letter:
This refers to the editorial “Still Blind on Suicide” (Sep 3). The issue raised was really commendable and appreciable. In addition to this, I want to add something more in this. In my view, the cases of youth suicide in Sikkim are not individual acts but a social fact. Society is also responsible for this heinous act. Today, in the context of whole India, the state of Sikkim has a large band of unhappy youth. In the state, 45 per cent of suicide cases reported between 2000 and 2008 were of people less than 25 years of age (National Crime Record Bureau Report 2009). The experts say in Sikkim that, the effects of modernization have led the sweeping changes in the value system in the socio-economic, socio-philosophical and cultural arenas of people’s lives, which envelops several developments — including the breakdown of the joint family system, which add stress in the life of the younger’s mind. Rapid urbanization, industrialization and emerging family systems are resulting in social upheaval and distress. The diminishing traditional support systems leave people vulnerable to suicidal behavior. Depression is also caused by unfulfilled aspirations among the young who believe their life is not changing as much as they want it to. People who move from rural areas to urban zones find there is no upward mobility, for life in rural areas is not very different from that in the city. This leads to low self-esteem which in turn leads to alienation, depression and finally leaves people vulnerable to suicidal behavior.
Ironically, Sikkim is a state where most of the people are heavily dependent on the Government for fulfilling their basic chuck of life. So it would be better if the government makes its citizens self-dependent and unswerving by opening of various boulevards in the field of social and economic development in the state. Suicide is a multifaceted problem and hence suicide prevention programmes should also be on the multidimensional basis. It is a time for civil society to espouse proactive and leadership roles in suicide prevention and save the lives of thousands of young Sikkimese.
Binod Bhattarai, Doctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University [recvd on email]