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Aasra Fighting to prevent suicide
11 May 2012

“If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.”- Loretta Girzartis. Depression is the topmost occupational disease of the 21st century says the World Health Organisation and estimates that a life is lost every 40 seconds to suicide. Most suicides occur in the age group of 15-35 years, and India loses about one lakh young people to suicides every year.* Shocking isn’t it? Looks like we have an epidemic that is slowly turning into a pandemic!
Suicide, the term itself is taboo. In this increasingly competitive, stressful world, not everyone has the strength to cope with life’s pressures. Extreme pressures of competition, blatant consumerism where nothing is ever enough, lack of emotional support and stability, stressful work environments, unrealistic goals and loneliness are just few of the causes that drives youngsters towards taking their lives. They simply are unable to cope up with their surroundings and sink deeper and deeper into a depression that goes either unnoticed or neglected by their caregivers / companions / peers. Suicide by a family member can leave their near and dear ones devastated; it is something that they can never reconcile with and tend to carry guilt and shame lifelong. Most often they blame themselves for what happened and somewhere, the society ‘silently’ holds them responsible.
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Albus Dumbledore. Aasra is a non-governmental organisation established in 1996 in Mumbai with a 24*7 helpline dedicated to help callers abandon suicidal thoughts. In an enlightening conversation with Johnson Thomas, the Founder-Director of Aasra, we understood the delicate issue of suicide, the gross negligence it faces, and how Aasra is fighting to prevent it. Johnson Thomas is a journalist and social worker by profession.

Do tell us how Aasra began?
During the mid-90s, we saw an alarming increase in the number of suicides by school children and unfortunately nothing was being done to address the issue. As social workers, a team of us decided to do something about it and soon founded Aasra and we managed to get a helpline number – 022 27546669 in 1998. Aasra functions as a unit of Befrienders Worldwide/Samaritans, an international organisation working towards better emotional and mental health since 1960s which started as a ‘listening service’ to the distressed in the UK. Its trigger was the suicide of a 13-year-old girl who thought she was ‘unclean’ since she was bleeding to death.

Why are school children and teenagers victims of suicide most of the time?
Children are fragile. Their personality is yet to develop and they often succumb to the pressures of expectations their parents/teachers have from them. It is our lifestyle that is to blame. The present day nuclear families, single-parent families leave no room for a support system a child/youngster can fall back on. Caregivers/parents most often compensate their lack of personal attention and care with material comforts. This pushes the child into loneliness with no one to voice their concerns with. The lack of coping skills, loneliness, exam pressures, pressures to excel pushes them to the extreme step of suicide.

A lonely child is a doomed child.
Teenagers suffer from the same problems but it is accentuated in them because at this age, they don’t share much with their caregivers and depend solely on peers. Peer pressures can play havoc on a youngster’s psyche. Emotional issues and exam pressures take toll on them, their self-esteem suffers and they end up being self-destructive.

What about suicides seen among young adults?
Our modern lifestyle is such that we are exposed to too much. It is so easy to be carried off our feet. Young adults with well-paying jobs and high-flying lives, usually end up partying too much, fall victim to alcohol and substance abuse. Depression is a modern day epidemic. Stressful work atmosphere and pressures of everyday life is spreading this epidemic. Again they have no emotional support system they can fall back on and very easily lose themselves. Making a comeback is a difficult task and they find no help to do so. Taking their lives seems an easier option, to get out of the mess they find themselves in. They are unable to realise that they are in the golden years of their lives.

How does Aasra help people in distress?
We at Aasra assure our distressed callers a warm, empathetic listening service. We ‘actively’ listen by being non-judgmental, non-critical and compassionate. Just speaking about their feelings helps callers alleviate their despair. We offer a kind ear to anyone in stress and despair through our 24*7 helpline. Our volunteers are trained to offer professional and confidential care and support to the depressed and the suicidal. Crisis intervention at the right time is crucial to save a life in despair. People, who are contemplating suicide call us when they come across our helpline number. We give them an empathetic ear with care and concern, they open up and express their pain, we counsel them and it helps them most of the time. Just talking helps. We also hold workshops in various schools, colleges, and companies all over India. The Indian Embassy in Dubai had solicited our services in 2011 to train their local staff on managing a helpline for Indian immigrants there. Indian immigrants often face a lot of psychological and emotional hardships in foreign lands. We have held training workshops for volunteers to run similar helplines in various Indian cities like Pune, Hyderabad and Cochin. “Join in the drive against suicide, become a volunteer and take a pledge to stop suicide”, signs off Johnson Thomas.

Contact details:
104, Sunrise Arcade, Plot No. 100, Sector 16, Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai – 400 709 Phone: 022 27546667
Email: aasrahelpline@yahoo.com
Official Website
*Aasra’s official website
By, Gayathri V Patil