In Kerala Suicide runs in the entire family, Ananthakrishnan G, TNN

In Kerala, suicide runs in the entire family
Ananthakrishnan G, TNN, Feb 13, 2011, 06.06am IST


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The average Malayali is famously private but might this unwillingness to let it all hang out be the reason for Kerala's frightening statistical success at family suicide? An abnormally high number of families commit suicide, together, in the state. Family suicide is defined as the dominant person in the family killing the others before doing away with themselves. Sometimes , it features a suicide pact among family members.

A study by the Kerala State Mental Health Authority (KSMHA) says that 39 of every 100 family suicides reported across India, take place in God's own country. The study has just been endorsed by Kerala's Economic Review 2010, which was tabled in the assembly. In 2009, there were 13 family suicides in Kerala, which totalled 38 deaths.

Kerala also has the highest rate of individual suicide in India, after Sikkim. In 2009, suicide accounted for nearly 40% of all deaths in Sikkim, in Kerala it was 25%.

Why is this so? Most Malayalis blame "family trouble" . They are somewhat in tune with the rest of the nation . The national average of suicide caused by "family trouble" is 23.7%; while in Kerala it was 40.2%.

Unsurprisingly, the state's mental health authority expressed concern about rising family discord. Its study said,

"In Kerala, the basic economic and social needs have been taken care of but emotional and other forms of pressure take their place, sometimes with lifethreatening effects."

Rajesh Pillai, director of the Kochibased NGO Maithri, which offers emotional support to the suicide-prone , corroborates the findings . "The calls that we receive suggest most suicides are triggered by relationship troubles," he says. At least some of this is brought on by the typical Malayali's unwillingness to talk about his problems and that's on account of his ego, Pillai adds.

But there is more. The spurt in suicide is also driven by weakening social institutions such as the family , rising divorce rates, unemployment , alcoholism, violence against women and children and consumerism . Taken together, this
cocktail can push people into debt and depression and eventually suicide.

But D Rau, secretary of the KSMHA, explains it differently. "That is the police's way of explaining the problem. In clinical cases, most suicides are a result of mental illness. At least one of the parties will have some form of psychological problem ," he says.

Studies on the social impact of suicide on Kerala society have thrown up an alarming fact. Most people who end their lives do so in their most productive years — between the ages of 30 and 45. Their dependents find themselves abandoned and vulnerable to the same escape route.

The other statistic, which has not yet been analysed in detail, is failed suicide attempts. According to Pillai , while 24 people on average commit suicide in Kerala every day, the number of attempted suicides is at least 10 to 15 times higher. "Many cases are not reported because the families would rather that hospitals write them off as accidents," he says.

KSMHA data did show a decline in the rate of suicide in Kerala over a longer period — between 2003 and 2009 — from 30.8 persons per lakh to 25.5 per lakh. But, compared to 2008, suicide rose in 2009 at the rate of 0.3 persons per lakh.

Kerala's suicide chart also illustrates the theory that money can't buy happiness with Malappuram, which is at the lower end of the human development index, recording the fewest cases.

Sorry State

The suicide rate among Kerala's youth is one of the highest in India


Family Suicide: Family Suicide is defined as the dominant person in the family killing the others before doing away with him/herself. Sometimes it features a suicide pact among family members.

The suicide rate among kerala's youth is the highest in India

There has been a concerted increase in suicide and attempted suicide among kerala's school children



Male suicide was 72% of all suicides; female attempted suicides accounted for 60% of all attempted suicides

78% of suicide victims were married, unlike in the West where suicide rates are higher among unmarried and divorced people

Hanging was the most common method — 50%, followed by poison, 32%



Read more: In Kerala, suicide runs in the entire family - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/In-Kerala-suicide-runs-in-the-entire-family/articleshow/7485596.cms#ixzz1Dv3dkeFc