AASRA in The Times Of India

‪#‎aasradotinfo‬ ‪#‎aasraSuicidePrevention24x7Helpline912227546669‬ ‪#‎BefriendersWorldwide‬ ‪#‎SamaritansUK‬ ‪#‎IASP‬ ‪#‎UN‬ ‪#‎WHO‬ ‪#‎AFSP‬ ‪#‎INFOTES‬ ‪#‎LifelineInternational‬ ‪#‎Google‬ ‪#‎Facebook‬ AASRA in The Times Of India http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=PROGRESSIVE-STEP-Defanging-suicide-attempt-law-brings-new-12082016017024 Aug 12 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) PROGRESSIVE STEP - Defanging suicide-attempt law brings new hope to life TIMES NEWS NETWORK   Prevention Is Key After Changes In Colonial Hand-Me-Down Sec 309 At long last, India has joined liberal democracies by mov ing to decriminalise suicide.The Mental Health Bill passed by the RS gets around Section 309 of the IPC that makes attempting suicide a criminal offence. This law, which essentially says that a person in extreme distress either kills herself efficiently or face legal punishment, is a colonial hand-me-down. While most western nations struck it down after the French Revolution, and even England and Wales followed suit in 1961, former colonial territories such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore persist with it. “Only 25 nations criminalise suicide now; most have realised that investment in mental health is more useful than prosecuting someone already tortured,“ says Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, founder of Chennai-based NGO Sneha and a consultant to WHO on suicide prevention. The law is no deterrent to suicide, say psychiatrists. Sri Lanka decriminalised suicide in 1998 and suicide levels dropped, possibly because of concerted suicide-prevention programmes. There are cultural underpinnings for our attitudes towards self-destruction. Unlike Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam, dharmic traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism don't have a sense that god has a claim on life. In Japan and India, suicides driven by honour and duty -seppuku and sati, for instance -were culturally endorsed. Suicide, some sug gest, can be driven by egoistic reasons, to make a point, for a social cause, because of loneliness, material deprivation, physical illness and other factors. “There's no one reason for suicide, it has always been a part of humanity ,“ says Johnson Thomas of Mumbai's Aasra suicide helpline. We need a suicide prevention programme, say experts. Suicide rates have soared globally and India has specific vulnerabilities -for instance, given the large number of suicides among housewives, marital status isn't a protection against suicide as it tends to be in the West. The WHO, seeing suicide as a preventable public health problem, has tried to analyse national risk factors. In India, criminalisation of suicide has meant substantial under-reporting, says Vijayakumar, making it difficult to identify at-risk groups or provide support. A 2002 Sneha study found that suicide was prevalent among students who failed in one subject. The Tamil Nadu government softened its policy allowing them to retake the exam without losing a year. “Suicides halved in the next decade,“ says Vijayakumar. Early identification of vulnerable individuals, and adequate mental health workers are crucial to avert suicide. This is where India has a problem.“There's a stigma around seeking professional help for mental illness,“ says Thomas. There's a deficit of mental health professionals and infrastructure, with only 0.3 psychiatrists per 100,000 people. The Mental Health Bill acknowledges the lack of resources, but “the government must put its money where its mouth is,“ says Thomas. Click To Enlarge