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Friday, August 16, 2013

Student suicide statistics (India)

Student Suicide Statistics
Suicidal tendencies among students have gone up as they are burdened with greater expectations from the parents coupled with academic pressure. Statistics show that more and more students are taking the extreme step of suicide in a bid to end their misery after failing in their pursuit of professional excellence. The causes are due to failure or rejection by the society and not for purely economic reasons as was in the past. Generation gap too has been playing a significant role in driving the youngsters to commit suicide. Parents are busy in their respective professions and hardly have time to deal with the problems of their wards. People, especially students are in need of support during examination period, but they seldom find moral support.

Indian scenario : 

Indian scenario Over 16,000 students suicides in the last three years. (Acc. to Health Ministry) Out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. Every 90 minutes a teenager tries to commit suicide in India. Many of these attempts are half-hearted cries for attention, help and love. But every six hours, one succeeds Girls may be more likely to make suicidal attempts, but boys are more likely to make a truly lethal suicide attempt.
 Failure in Examination  
No of Suicides in 2009 = 2010
No of Suicides in 2010= 2479  
No of Suicides in 20011 = 2381

The number of
suicides due to ‘Divorce’, ‘Illegitimate
Pregnancy’ and ‘Professional/Career Problem’
have increased by 54.5%, 20.3% and 20.1%   respectively as compared to previous year.

It is
observed that 11.7% (355 out of 3,035) of
children (upto 14 years) who committed
suicides belonged to Tamil Nadu. 13.2% (1,419
out of 10,785) senior citizens (60 years &
above) also belonged to Tamil Nadu.
60.6% (20 out of 33) victims in Daman & Diu,
57.5% (88 out of 153) victims in Meghalaya and
57.1% (36 out of 63) victims in Daman & Diu
were young (15-29 years) as compared to the
national average of 35.4%. 39.4% of the victims
(13 out of 33) in Nagaland were middle aged
(30-44 years) against the national average of

34.1%.
In 2000, the suicide rate was six persons per lakh and in 2012 it has increased to 11 suicides per lakh. The age group that is committing suicide is between 15 and 35.
In 2006, 5,857 students — or 16 a day — committed suicide across India due to exam stress. And these are just the official figures

[Source: TOI, March 2008, Report]


A study (conducted 10 years back) had found that 16 per cent of Mumbai students were depressed - that is 2 per cent more than the students in Boston. It also found that 8 percent of these were suicidal.

Today, 10 years later, researchers say things could be worse.
- Statistics show that India has the highest suicide rate in the world, marginally behind China, but ahead of the west
- 95-100 people commit suicide in India every day
- And of these a whopping 40% are in the adolescent age group
[Source: CNN-IBN Report, Jan 13 2010]


Crime Records Bureau figures show India’s suicide rate has risen 8 per cent a year for 10 years. According to a 2007 estimate, 45 per cent of suicides involve people between 15 and 29. And WHO lists suicide among the top three causes of death in the age group 15-35.

The motive when students kill themselves is invariably academic pressure - this accounts for 99 per cent suicides in the age group 12-18 - but psychiatrists sought to assess why the trend has risen of late and put it down to three reasons: deprivation of sunshine, exam results, and the copycat syndrome.

Distressed teenagers account for 70 per cent of the phone calls to a helpline run by NGO Aasra, says founder Johnson Thomas.
The leading mental health institution in India, the National Institute of Mental Health and Mental Sciences in Bengaluru, has been involved in several studies to understand why the rates of people taking their own lives, particularly younger people, are on the rise.

In the last formal study conducted in 2007, the Institute found that 122,637 people ended their own lives and for every successful act, it estimated that 8-10 attempts go unreported.

Nearly three-fourths of those taking their own lives were aged 16-45 years.

Bengaluru topped the list of cities where the largest number had taken place, followed by Chennai. In New Delhi data collected from 1,205 adolescents (aged 12-19 years) in two schools revealed that, on average, one in seven adolescents had thought about ending their life.

A lack of methods to help identify youngsters at risk further hinders prevention efforts.

[Source: Guardian, Jan 28 2010]

Since the start of 2010, more than 20 students have killed themselves in Mumbai, India’s financial capital
Opportunities that have come with two decades of economic boom and open markets have also brought more job anxiety, higher expectations and more pressure to achieve, mental health experts said.

India has some of the world's highest suicide rates, with many believing the biggest risk group to be rural farmers facing debt after poor harvests.

However, the study - published in the Lancet medical journal on Friday - says suicide rates are highest in the 15-29 age group, peaking in southern regions that are considered richer and more developed with better education, social welfare and health care.
As per NCRB statistics, 1,35,585 persons committed suicide in the country in 2011. NCRB statistics from 2002 shows that the annual suicide cases in the country always stood above the 1 lakh mark and the highest number of cases was in 2011. In 2002, it was 1,10,417 cases.



That puts the young at high risk - a new phenomenon experts said has happened recently as more middle-class youths strive to meet achievement expectations, and new technologies like cell phones and social networking sites help break down traditional family units once relied on for support.

Overall, the report uses a national government survey of deaths in 2001-03 to estimate 187,000 suicides took place in 2010, making it the cause of 3 per cent of deaths that year.

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