India’s Suicide Problem,Wall Street Journal, Article with ref to Aasra

Mo

India’s Suicide Problem

INDIA

• smaller
• Larger

• facebook
• twitter
• google plus
• linked in

• Email
• Print

By Atish Patel

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Shown, Jiah Khan.

The apparent suicide of 25-year-old Bollywood actor Jiah Khan last week was greeted with shock in India, a country where suicide is the second-most common cause of death among people aged 15 to 29, according to astudy in The Lancet.

Of the 114,800 males who took their own lives in India in 2010, 40% were aged 15 to 29, while 56% of the 72,100 women were in that age bracket, the study said. The report’s lead author, Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and joint director of the Centre for Global Mental Health, says female suicides in India are often linked to relationships, including domestic violence and forced marriage. For men, the major reasons were related to work and financial difficulties, he told India Real Time.

“It reflects the general role of men and women in India,” Mr. Patel said.

In India, people carry out suicide mainly by self-poisoning with pesticide and hanging, which are more lethal than methods typically used in the West like overdosing on non-prescribed drugs, Mr. Patel said.

Public health interventions such as restricting access to pesticides might help prevent many suicide deaths in India, Mr. Patel wrote in The Lancet report, which said there were about 187,000 suicides in India in 2010, the second highest in the world after China. The fact that these two nations have the most suicides is in itself unsurprising given their large populations.

India’s suicide rate is about 16 per 100,000 people a year, the study said. The rate in the U.S. in 2010 was 12.4 per 100,000 people, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while in the U.K. in 2011 it was 11.8 per 100,000, the Office for National Statistics said. Countries with higher rates include South Korea, Greenland and Eastern European nations like Lithuania, reports show.

Through rapid urbanization, India has witnessed a change in family structure, with people moving out of joint families into nuclear families. Although the effect of this change has not been studied in detail, some experts believe this has impacted India’s suicide rate.

“Families now are fractured and the support systems in place earlier are not working,” said Johnson Thomas from Aasra, a Mumbai-based organization that runs a 24-hour suicide prevention helpline.

The confidential helpline, which has been operating for 15 years, gets 35 calls a day, Mr. Thomas said. That adds up to about 12,775 a year. The majority of calls are from men, who struggle more than women to express their feelings, Mr. Thomas added.

“Indian society doesn’t allow men to be emotional… they don’t really have anyone to confide in,” he said.

In a study published in 2011, an international team of health researchers said India had the worst rate of severe depression of 18 countries surveyed, with 36% of respondents showing at least five symptoms, such as loss of appetite and a sense of worthlessness, for a period of two weeks or more.

That study also showed that women were twice as likely as men to suffer from depression.

There is a lack of specialist mental health experts and psychiatric clinics in rural India, where more suicides occur. According to The Lancet report, suicide rates in rural India are about twice as high as in urban areas. The problem is exacerbated by the easy availability of pesticides and a lack of emergency care, the report noted.

Clinics addressing mental health issues like depression have opened in cities in recent years. But there is a stigma in getting psychiatric treatment, doctors and experts say.

“People continue to have a closed mindset related to mental illness,” said Sanjay Chugh, a New Delhi-based psychiatrist who runs his own private clinic.

“Mental illness is still understood as a form of disease which will be ‘fixed’ by faith healers, a divine intervention or through rituals or prayers,” he added.

Also, suicide is a crime in India.

In a 2011 ruling, India’s Supreme Court asked Parliament to consider quashing the law, but no action has been taken. Under the law, a suicide survivor can be sentenced with a one year prison term or a fine, or both.

In a 2007 report in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Lakshmi Vijaykumar, who runs a suicide prevention network called Sneha in the southern Indian city of Chennai, said that making suicide illegal has proved counterproductive.

“Emergency care to those who have attempted suicide is denied as many hospitals and practitioners hesitate to provide the needed treatment fearful of legal hassles,” she wrote in the report.

“The actual data on attempted suicides becomes difficult to ascertain as many attempts are described to be accidental to avoid entanglement with police and courts,” she added.

Last year, the government drafted a bill to decriminalize the act of attempting suicide but it hasn’t yet been introduced for discussion in Parliament.

“More than legalization of the act, what is needed is spreading knowledge and making people more mindful and sensitive toward mental health as a field, as it would automatically open doors for devising means and methods to combat it,” Mr. Chugh said.

Worldwide, up to one million people die by suicide every year, according to the World Health Organization. In the last 45 years, suicide rates have increased by 60%, says the WHO, and suicide is among the three leading causes of death among people aged 15 to 44.

A post-mortem report said the cause of Ms. Khan’s death was asphyxia due to hanging. It ruled out foul play.

Atish Patel is a London-born multimedia journalist based in Delhi. You can follow him on Twitter @atishpatel.

Follow India Real Time on Twitter @IndiaRealTime.

Suicides Soar in Past Decade -Wall Street Journal , Timothy Martin

U.S. NEWS

May 2, 2013, 7:48 p.m. ET

Suicides Soar in Past Decade

 

Roberta McLauglin photographs an exhibit of shoes last May, in remembrance of people who have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Suicide -Annual Total Surpasses Car-Crash Deaths; Rate Among Middle-Aged Is Cited

 

The number of deaths caused by suicide has risen precipitously in the last decade, surpassing those caused by car crashes and even some of the most fatal diseases, according to a government report released Thursday.
The number of suicides in a year rose 31% to 38,364 in 2010 from 29,181 in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For adults aged 35 to 64, the group most responsible for the increase, suicide is now the fourth most common cause of death behind cancer, heart disease and unintentional injury such as drowning. That is up from the eighth spot in 1999.
Suicide rates for youth and elderly remained steady. But suicide rates for working adults were double that of the other demographics, with people in their 50s showing the highest numbers. That is troubling to public health officials, since most of the resources targeted at preventing suicide have traditionally been earmarked for students and senior citizens.

Enlarge Image

Close

Downturns in the economy have been correlated with rises in suicides, according to CDC research. As people lose their jobs or work part-time, many struggle to make ends meet and go without health insurance, adding to stress and turmoil in households. States reduce mental-health services to balance budgets.
This last decade has been particularly punishing, as the worst recession in decades wiped out stock-market wealth, home equity, college savings and retirement funds for many workers—in addition to the heavy job layoffs.
For suicides among the middle-aged, men outnumber women by a 4-to-1 ratio, said Richard McKeon, head of the suicide-prevention division of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. That underscores a greater reluctance among men, particularly those of working age, to seek therapy, as well as the challenges the health-care system has in reaching them.
Sally Spencer-Thomas said her brother, Carson J. Spencer, was a "man's man." In his mid-30s, Carson was tall, athletic and CEO of an insurance company. But her brother, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager, struggled to accept that his bouts with a mental disease were normal—and common, Ms. Thomas said.
On Dec. 7, 2004, Carson took his own life after struggling with mania and months of erratic spending and behavior. He spent all the money he had in his bank account, Ms. Thomas said.
"My brother struggled with what it meant to be a man living with his disease," said Ms. Thomas, who founded a group dedicated to preventing suicides among working men in 2005. "That is a huge reason why men of working age are dying."
For decades, suicide-prevention resources were directed at students and the elderly. In about a dozen states, school staff members are required to undergo annual training for suicide prevention, looking for potential signs of at-risk teenagers. The approach with seniors centered on diagnosing and treating depression. As resources went to youth and seniors, however, the recent recession challenged middle-aged adults.
"The safety net for working adults has a lot of big holes in it," said David Litts, executive secretary of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, a public-private partnership seeking to reduce suicide deaths.
As a result, the suicide growth among middle-age adults has gone largely undetected.
"It's been a creeping erosion that's been difficult to see," said Eric D. Caine, director of the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention, a CDC-funded team, and a leading expert on suicide deaths.
In the Obama administration's proposed budget next year, an extra $2 million is available to target demographics—like working-age adults—who aren't being helped, said Mr. McKeon.
In 2010, suicides for all ages totaled 38,364, the CDC said. That compares with 33,687 motor vehicle deaths in the same year.
Corrections & Amplifications
The Carson J Spencer Foundation was established in 2005. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the foundation was established in 2006. The earlier version also incorrectly referred to Carson J. Spencer on second reference as "Mr. Carson."
Write to Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com

 

 

Does Paternity Leave Hurt Women?

Does Paternity Leave Hurt Women?

By Rachel Emma Silverman

Fathers often talk the talk about sharing parenting duties with mothers when it comes to a newborn. But a new study finds that couples who profess to believe in equally-shared parenting rarely do so in practice. The researchers surveyed 181 married, heterosexual, tenure track professors with children under age two. All of the professors had access to paid parental leave. Each survey participant was asked how their handling of about 25 child-care tasks compared with their spouse’s handling of the same tasks. Among the tasks: changing child’s diapers; taking child to doctor; feeding the child; staying home from work to care for the child; giving child a bath. (See the full list on page 21 of the study.) The majority of professors – both male and female, particularly the women – held the view that men and women should share child care duties. But only three of 109 male faculty members surveyed reported that they did half or more of the care, while 70 of 73 women reported doing at least half–even when both spouses worked full time. The study found that female professors who take paid maternity leave spent most of their time off to focus on infant care, including breastfeeding. Male professors, on the other hand, used their paid paternity leaves to focus on things other than infant care, such as research and publishing papers.
The study also found that women enjoyed doing child care work more than men. “Our results suggest that one reason why female professors do more child care may be that they like it more than men do,” the researchers wrote in the study. “This conclusion is possible even though the vast majority of female respondents and a clear majority of male respondents believe that husbands and wives should share child care equally. Gender ideology about care may be less important than feelings on these matters.”
The study, in the January issue of the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, was conducted by Steven Rhoads, a political scientist at the University of Virginia and his son, Christopher Rhoads, an assistant professor of education at the University of Connecticut. (One caveat: the survey of the professors was done in 2001 — and ideas about gender and parenting may have changed over the last decade.) (Our fellow WSJ blog, Ideas Market, also has a take on the research here.) The researchers say that offering paid paternity leave might actually serve to advance men more than women because men tend to use the time for professional work. While only about 12% of men currently utilize their post-birth leave option, the study finds, “if men should begin to take leave in much larger numbers, far from leveling the playing field, gender-neutral, post-birth leaves are likely to tilt the field further in favor of men.” One could also argue, though, that paternity leave offers men the opportunity to learn to do more at-home and child-care tasks — and true equality in the workplace will never occur unless there is home equality as well.

How to reduce stress at the workplace- Wall street journal

By RUTH MANTELL Your workload has increased, so have your boss's expectations. But scaling back could mean losing a job. Talk about stress. Paul Baard, an organizational and motivational psychologist at Fordham University's graduate business school in New York, knows just how stressful a work environment can get. He has consulted with athletes in the high-stakes, high-pressure world of professional sports. What secret has he passed along to those clients? When you are in a slump, you can still contribute by encouraging your teammates. Enlarge Image 15MWc 15MWc Christoph Hitz Rather than burdening a team with distracting self-doubt and pity, try to help others, he advises. "In order to remain self-motivated, research has found that the innate psychological need for competence must be satisfied," Mr. Baard says. "This drive pertains not only to the ability to do a job but to achieve something through it—to have impact, to contribute. A way an employee can expand opportunities to satisfy this need is to help her team succeed by encouraging others, even if her direct contributions are limited." Click Here to View Other Health & Wellness Articles Age, occupation and family circumstances, among other factors, can all play a part in how workers respond to different stressors. But experts say there are steps that can help you take control of your happiness at work this year. Find meaning in your tasks. Commitment to a goal beyond self-promotion can help a worker manage stress levels, says John Weaver, a psychologist at Psychology For Business, a Brookfield, Wis.-based employment consultancy. Several years ago, Mr. Weaver consulted for a long-term-care facility in Wisconsin that had flooded. Because of the water damage, the residents and employees had been forced to move into an already occupied facility. Employees felt cramped and annoyed, he says, and pettiness abounded. To help the workers regain a positive attitude, Mr. Weaver asked each person this question: Why do you do this work? "People don't work in nursing because it pays so much or it's glamorous or it's easy," he says. "As they heard the question you could see their attitude change. They could see the reasons why they needed to work together, to put aside difficulties and compromise, and residents were treated better." Remembering why you are in a business can help you manage stress, Mr. Weaver says. While working on his dissertation, Rick Best, now a health-services scientist for Lockheed Martin, researched stress among nurses who work with veterans, a group that faces high demands with low resources. One might have expected elevated levels of burnout. But there were high levels of satisfaction. "The meaning they got from their job was high," says Mr. Best. "They went into the profession of nursing to help people. As a consequence, they derived much meaning from what they were doing, and they were better able to handle stress." Reduce your expectations. Given how much energy employees devote to their job, there can be quite a few expectations wrapped up in work. Workers often look to employers for career, socialization, and personal and intellectual growth opportunities. "With so many expectations, it's no wonder that work can't meet all of that. So we get disappointed, but I don't know that work could fulfill all those things," says Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations and services at the University of Denver. Due to so many layoffs in the last few years, many have lost friends and colleagues, and have realized that job security, taken for granted at times, is gone. There have also been cuts when it comes to extras, such as educational opportunities, celebrations and room for career advancement. There can be an element of loss when employees realize that the workplace has changed. However, personal and professional goals can still be pursued without an employer's support. "The way back from this is to try to gain perspective about work, realizing that we are still ultimately in charge of our careers and work, and we don't have to turn to our employers to develop ourselves, or look to them to be responsible for us," Mr. Pinnock says. Look at "challenges," not "problems." Rather than perceiving problems at work, look at them as challenges. "The people who approach work as an opportunity to learn are much more satisfied with their jobs and performance, and find themselves eager to take on new challenges," Mr. Weaver says. "They aren't trying to prove that they are the smartest. They are more likely to learn from their own experiences and mistakes." Setting intermediate goals can also help workers derive a sense of accomplishment, and keep pace with longer-term targets, Mr. Best says. Write to Ruth Mantell at ruth.mantell@dowjones.com