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Suicide is a derived from a Latin word “Suicidium”, that means "to kill oneself". Hence suicide is the act of intentionally causing harm to your own body with an intention to end your life. Suicide is often committed out of despair, fear of failure or any other reason, the cause of which is frequently attributed to mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Suicide is a serious issue that is not only prominent in our country but a cause for concern in all parts of the world. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or troubles with personal relationships, hard competition or fear of losing something important often play a major role in driving a person towards ending his life.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth between 10 to 19 years of age in our country. However, suicide is avoidable if a person himself picks-up symptoms of stress at right time and chose to get right guidance, however parents, teachers, and friends are in a key position to pick up on these signs and help out the person towards some professional guidance. Most important is to never take these warning signs frivolously and go for expert guidance as soon as you find out something wrong in behaviour.
The most commonly used method of suicide varies by country and also depends from person to person. Some common methods of suicide include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms. According to different surveys about 800,000 to a million people in the world die by suicide every year, making it the 10th leading cause of death across the globe. Various studies reveal that suicide rates are higher in men than in women, with males three to four times more likely to kill themselves due to stress and depression, as compared to the females. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year. Attempts are more common in the young and females. Most common reason for the young people is either related to failing an exam, drug abuse, failure in love or because of failure to live up to their parent’s expectations on the academic front.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for school and college students, and the number one cause of suicide for college student suicides and all suicides is untreated stress as well as depression. Additionally, a survey indicates that one in five college students believe that their depression level is higher than it should be, yet only 6% say that they would seek help. It is estimated that more than 60 per cent of the students who committed suicide last year were in an age group of 15 and 29. The number of male teenagers and young men who committed suicide far outnumbered the number of girls who ended their lives.
Today we competition is growing day by day and it is really unfortunate to see the cascading effects of the pressures of the society, parents and schools on young students that sometimes they get so much stressed up that they opt for suicide when they fail to live up to the expectations. It is estimated that around 20 students take their lives in India every day and every 10 minutes someone in this country commits suicide. It is really tragic to see the alarming rate of suicides by students in colleges and schools across India. Psychiatrists attribute this trend to various factors, it is not an outcome of a single reason but it is a combination of both parental and academic pressures that drive students towards suicide. The alarming suicide rate among students highlights the reality that our younger generation is really prone to this problem of suicide and it is very important to find ways to deal with this problem.
The need today is to motivate youth towards a healthy lifestyle and to empower them in such a way that they are able to deal with their problems in a strong and efficient manner, instead of opting something like suicide or running away. Need is to understand well your children and their abilities and do not expect something forms them, that they can never achieve. It is very important for both parents and teachers to understand the capabilities of student and also to look out for any negative symptoms if shown by the students. Many suicidal youths demonstrate observable behaviours that signal their suicidal thinking, so it would be quite useful if picked up early by the person himself, his friends, teachers, relatives and parents. Need is also to take necessary steps in the case if anyone shows such symptoms. These include may include signals in the form of some direct and indirect statements like:
Stress is the main reason for many people taking on suicide. Unable to deal with their stress and anxiety levels, many people are not strong enough to take the stress and face consequences and tend to find an escape by committing suicide. Different kinds of insecurities, expectations and anxieties, and a pressure to excel seem to be the tipping point. Many students say that they are constantly worried about not getting a seat in reputed college if they fail to get a decent percentage in exams or they could not perform according to the expectation of their parents, which leads to a lot of stress. Other factors could include stress-related discord between parents, academic stress, failure in exams, interpersonal issues with friends, abuse experience, psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, and chronic medical illness. These are all the reasons that may lead to high-stress levels among the individuals and sometimes these may have serious consequences.
Peer pressure can have an equally negative impact on students, there are friends in groups who continuously compare marks and discuss the extent of revisions done and this may sometimes lead to a lot of stress on others who are not well prepared. The hype of board exam seems to have contributed to the largest number of teenage suicide cases reported, though the board’s exams have been abolished still grades comparison is there. Also, a lot of competitive exams are adding on to the hype. Infatuation factor seems to be another contributing factor, where students opt to die when either turned down or rejected. There cannot be just one reason why a teenager takes this drastic step; often it is a combination of reasons that force them to take such drastic steps. India reportedly ranks high in the number of teenage suicides. In fact, statistics reveal that suicide rates among young teens and young adults have increased by almost 300 per cent in the past few years.
India is a country where youth-power is one of the major driving force of the country. Youth form a major portion of India’s population, and today youth is struggling with suicidal problems that may hamper our growth in many ways. It is very important to find out relevant reasons and come out with an effective solution to this problem. It is a clear fact that today, the youth in India forms one of the most vulnerable groups, who on the one hand are expected to be the growth leaders and form the backbone of India’s future, while on the other hand, are a browbeaten and baffled cluster.
To find out the major problem, we can start with the less availability of opportunities for youth in our country. There is an imbalance between the youth population and the limited opportunities for admission in schools and colleges, and specifically in most of the professional courses. This is a major factor that puts the youth under great pressure. First class and second class are hardly adequate results anymore and the concept of competition is even adding on to the race for the best.
It is hard to blame anyone in this case. Parents are helpless too, as both public and private institutions have caused an economic burden to them and without good marks and rank in competitive exams, it is really hard to manage admission into a quality professional course. If you think getting admission is the toughest thing that youth can ever experience, then that is not the only thing. Placement is another important factor. Getting admission into a good college is not enough until you get a good placement package too. There is not just one factor that is causing the problem; the thing is that you need to get everything right. And even after getting placed, the comparison in relation to the pay received causes all the more painful. A person with the pleasure of working but with limited salary is certainly not welcome in this society. People have come to a point where they are ready to trade their work pleasure for money. Tough deadlines and hectic work atmosphere have taken the lives of many youths. Hence there is a strong need to get the things right.
It is really unfortunate that we live in a society that recognizes only those who have gained monetarily and there are so much comparison and sarcasm. Life today has become a mad race to reach the top and conquer everything, no matter what price you have to pay, the only thing is to reach the top and achieve big. The pressure to excel has reached an all-time high and competition is also at peak. Most students and their parents in India have only one goal-to secure above 90 per cent marks or even 100 per cent. Everything is geared towards that goal. People have forgotten their social lives and concentrated all their efforts towards the career. We have forgotten that we tend to make a good career for a good living. Instead these days a lot of people are living just to make out a good career, and when they fail to do so they end up committing suicide. Rather than being a joyful experience, education has turned into a fiercely competitive fire walk that stresses the students out into taking the ultimate step of quitting their life.
The alarming number of student suicides in India is a matter of serious concern. It is extremely shocking that so many of them are succumbing to pressures pointing to stressful period childhood and youth have turned to be today. The need of the hour is to revamp our education system and find in ways of creating more opportunities before we see tragedies of these kinds increasing. The education system should be so designed that it prepares the child to meet the real challenges of life and prepare them mentally to live life strongly. It should not be a mere exhibition as such an education pattern can only add to the internal hollowness of our society.
The growing suicidal tendency among students is a matter of great concern for the nation as a whole and need today is to bring about a change in our education policies as well as employment facilities. It is a high time, and our educators, the government as well as the society should take the issue seriously and work towards lessening the pressure on students. There is a strong need to employ an education system that provides in some real knowledge, besides this, there is a strong need to create in more and more opportunities in the field of professional courses and jobs as well, and government need to focus this thing seriously.
The role of parents is indeed vital for preparing students to take failure in their stride because a human life is far more precious than a degree he may hold. Also, parents should know well their children and their capabilities and do not force them into something that is not capable of. The loss of even one student’s life is not just a loss to his family alone, but also a great loss to the nation. Something needs to be done to stop such impulsive acts. It is a high time that we should all take up this issue seriously and also bring this in the notice of the concerned authorities to take necessary steps that would lead to overall development of society and promote human happiness.
