Opinion - News Analysis

A first it could do without

Kerala has the highest suicide rate among the States, neary three times the national average. G.Anand reports.

ON MAY 25, Kerala woke up to the news that a Sub-Inspector of Police (SI) and his three daughters had committed suicide by gulping down insecticide-laced ice-cream. The reason: debt. The next day, the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination results were out. Within days, nine children had killed themselves.

Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country and an enviable record in development indices such as life expectancy. But its per capita income is among the lowest. The fallout: its suicide rate is nearly three times the national average.

The secretary of the State Mental Health Authority (SMHA) terms it the "failures of success". Suraraj Mani says a voracious appetite for high-end consumer goods spurred by money lenders and hire-purchase schemes, the wide gap between people's aspirations and actual capabilities, the disintegration of traditional social support mechanisms as was prevalent in joint families, emergence of a trend towards nuclear families, alcohol abuse, financial instability, family dysfunction and a growing population of the aged are some of the reasons for the high suicide rate.

According to the 1999 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, the suicide rate in Kerala was 30.5 per lakh of the population while the national rate was only 11.2 per lakh of the population. According to State police, the number of suicides rose from 7,845 in 1990 to 9,080 in 2000. Police figures show that in 1987, an average of 17 persons committed suicide in the State every day. By May 2002, the figure had reached 27.

Most alarming has been the increase in the number of "family suicides or pact suicides" where entire families end their lives together. The trend was first noticed in the State in 1982. In 1998, 23 family suicides were reported. By 2001, the number had risen to 80. Bankruptcy and fall in social reputation are the most common reasons cited.

With its high literacy rate, Kerala invests heavily in the education of its children. The academic climate is highly competitive. Only one out of 200 students who appear for the entrance examinations gets admission to professional courses. "Thrani", a suicide prevention/crisis resolution counselling centre funded by the State Aids Cell in Thiruvananthapuram, says that in the 48 hours starting May 26, when the SSLC exam results were out, it handled more than 1,500 calls, from students and parents. Nineteen callers, all students who had passed the examination, told counsellors that they were actively contemplating suicide because they could not achieve the scores expected by their parents. Elizabeth Vadekkara, "Thrani" coordinator, says nearly 200 other callers were "highly stressed, borderline cases".

The high rate of unemployment among the educated youth has only added to the problems. There are about 32.29 lakh applicants in the State and few jobs to go around. Of late, even the predominantly-agrarian districts such as Idukki, Wayanad and Alappuzha have been reporting suicides linked to the economic woes of farmers and those in the traditional sectors such as coir caused by the new economic polices. That Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country (8.3 litres) hasn't helped either. The fact that Kerala is the largest market for psychiatric drugs in South India (a whopping 25 per cent of the region's total market share) is yet another indicator of the mental health problems faced by the population. The State also has one of the highest divorce rates in the country. The consumer culture fuelled by advertisements has also made individuals/families aspire for a luxurious life far beyond their means. They spend more than they can afford to.

The media has also come in for criticism for the way it reports suicides. Detractors say the visuals and the often-sensational style of reporting, with graphic details of the methods used, often lead to `copycat' suicides.

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