The levels of stress, anxiety, worry, sadness, and anger among young women may be far higher than their male counterparts, but young men are taking their lives more than women in Kerala. Data tabled at the Assembly reveal that 6,244 men in the age category of 18-30 committed suicide between 2018 and 2023 (up to August), whereas the number is 2,471 among women during this period.
A notable thing in the data is that the tendency to commit suicide is increasing in men every year while the number is slightly decreasing in women. When 984 men committed suicide in 2018, the number shot up to 1,244 in 2022. A total of 448 women committed suicide in 2018 while the number dropped to 431 in 2022.
In fifth position
At the national level, Kerala was in the fifth position in the suicide index of youngsters in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 as per the annual “Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India Report” released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Speaking to The Hindu, Sebind Kumar, Associate Professor in Psychiatry and former general secretary, Indian Psychiatric Society (Kerala), said the number of suicides had always been high in men compared to women, although the number of suicide attempts was quite high in women.
The precision of the method employed by the men for suicide is slated to be one of the main reasons for the high rate of deaths in them. Women often use tactics such as sleeping pill overdose, where the safety margin is significantly higher than other methods.
Second, break-up is one of the foremost reasons for suicide attempts and deaths in youngsters. Women are smarter at handling break-ups than men due to their biological advantages. In the case of men, the use of drugs, liquor, and other stimulants makes things complicated during such situations, said Dr. Kumar.
Social media’s role
The over exposure to social media has also increased psychological distress among youths. Many youngsters who survived suicidal attempts did not seem mature for their age when subjected to counselling after the failed attempt, said Dr. Kumar, adding at least 5-10 attempt cases are being reported at government medical colleges a day.
(Suicide prevention helpline number: DISHA: 1056)
