Decriminalization of "Attempt to Suicide"

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day.

Attempt to Suicide is a punishable offence in India under section 309.

The Law Commission, in its 210^th report (2008) on "Attempt to Suicide", recommended that this law should be revoked

It has clearly mentioned that -

"  Section 309 is a stumbling block in prevention of suicides and improving the access of medical care to those who have attempted suicide. It is unreasonable to inflict punishment upon a person who on account of family discord, destitution, loss of a dear relation or other cause of a like nature overcomes the instinct of self-preservation and decides to take his own life. 

In such a case, the unfortunate person deserves sympathy, counselling and appropriate treatment, and certainly not the prison.  "

It is yet to be seen when this recommendation of Law commission will actually be incorporated in the law." 

Till then, attempt to suicide is a crime...

So, for the organizations and people working towards the suicide prevention, the responsibility is more.. 

Willingness to seek help

An Engineer commits suicide after pressure to clear MGNREGA files near Mysore.

A girl studying in class 7 commits suicide in Odisha because her poor parents could not afford to pay for her notebook and pencil.

A 55 year old sales tax official in Nashik commits suicide – reason unknown.

…These are a few who made their presence felt in the news of this month, be it social media, print or TV… Many more suicides have been recorded in the police files…

Perhaps some have got unreported by the family due to ‘social stigma’ and ‘law’. Such suicides have been labeled as ‘natural death’.  

We could not save them…

Clearly, they have no access or awareness about any helpline…  

What about those who survived?

A Television anchor attempts suicide by consuming rat poison at NOIDA due to harassment at workplace. She is in hospital surviving after the incident. She even had a facebook post declaring her intention. Was she aware of any helpline…?

Do the people, trying to take that difficult plunge, ever think about a helpline that is only a phone call away?

This is the question every support center, working for the depressed and suicidal, needs to understand. Its one aspect is the publicity. But another, perhaps more significant, is the willingness of the people to seek help. How can we tackle that?

A new mental health service for those who don't have any access

Mental Health care is a costly affair. Here is something that may fill the gap for the needy who can't afford it:

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A new initiative launched by Saarthak and The Hans Foundation is:

Khushhali Manasik Swasthya Sewa

  - to provide mental health services to those who do not have any access. 

 Its aim is to provide free and accessible mental health services across Delhi NCR.

The team providing the service would include two senior psychiatrists, two senior clinical psychologists, social workers, counselors and volunteers.

Services will address the universal mental health needs:

Skill building workshops on:

1. Managing Anger
2. Challenging Negative Thoughts
3. Parenting
4. The Success Factor (A life skills program for young people)
5. Sahas ka Safar (A support group for women coping with psychological impact of Domestic Violence)

Services would also address the needs of those people who live with Major Psychiatric Disorders, Common Mental Disorders and Alcohol Dependence

E-mail: hope.includes@gmail.com

Phone: Maneesha/ Shakti on 011 8800599204 (Monday to Saturday between to 10 to 5.30pm)

People can also walk in to the service on Fridays between 3 to 6pm at AADI, 2 Balbir Saxena Marg, Hauz Khas, Near green Park Metro Station.

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Only time will tell how this new initiative will make an impact for the mental health care landscape.

Depression in school-children

Once, the childhood used to be without worry… Or at least we thought so.

Many of us have fond memories of ‘that golden era’ when every morning we had a clean canvas to color it afresh. We did not remember the scolding that was part and parcel of what they call growing up.  

And peer pressure, where was thou?

Yes, we had ups and downs like all of our near and dears. We wept, we fought… and oh, we cried alone at times. Yet, all those were just bad moments… that we were able to overcome. After all we had games to play, friends to share, and family to care.

It still happens with children. They tend to forget the reprimands. They do mistakes again and again. And they enjoy like we grown up once had …

Yet, the stress has entered into their psyche…

Yes, the depressed child has arrived and is here to stay for long.

Competition, over-ambitious parents, peer pressure, lack of emotional support, and maybe media-explosion that provides over-exposure to the already burdened child -  these and many more such factors are responsible.

Or is it called Growth…From collective to more individualistic society… where pressure on the individual to perform better starts at an early age...

Are our schools equipped to handle it?

The suicides by school-going children, which were once almost non-existent, have started making headlines.    

Suicide is the extreme step, but what about the common depression that is so rampant nowadays. Has our schools ever tried to gauge its intensity and to find a remedy…?  

Perhaps a few educational institutions have the time or energy to think in this direction, except some big and branded ones. They also sometimes do it just for formality sake, by having a part-time counselor who is mainly focused on advising about the career avenues. The emotional support takes a backseat most of the time.    

So, what will happen to the depressed child?

Will she be able to flourish and contribute as per her capability? Or will she become a liability? Or worse, will she try to end her life in a weak moment, if there is no channel to release the tension… Such is an extreme scenario but sometimes it happens making a news headline.

What can we do? - This may be the standard response.

But, do we know if any depressed child lives in our home?

Do we try to check? Do we have the patience to at least listen to him or her?   

Suicide Attempt: A Crime?

Suicide is a crime under Indian Penal Code. It is perhaps the only case where the successful criminal can’t be punished. The law can take its course if one attempts and remains alive.

There are other measures to discourage the suicide, like the insurance. Sometimes, the beneficiary hides the ‘suicide act’ in order to get the insurance money. But, such measures are immaterial for somebody who has left the mortal world.

Most of the Religions also condemn this act, but if a person really commits suicide then they can only offer the condolences to the near and dears. After all, how the dead can be preached! 

Affected by this religious as well as legal understanding, almost all of us perceive this act as something “not good” for the civilized society.

Is it the right perception?

What happens to the person because of this general perception?

She may try to hide his feeling to avoid the ridicule. He may plan it secretly to avoid the legal implication. He or she may use it to take revenge from the family/friends – implicating them in the suicide note.

The skeptic may ask another question:

Why somebody ends this otherwise beautiful god-gift called ‘Life’?

Sometime back, a psychiatrist tried to deconstruct this academic mystery. According to him, there are three broad reasons:

First is Genetic. It is there in the genes. Somebody whose grandpa has committed the suicide is more prone. It’s like one is more likely to have diabetes because of the family history. It does not mean that one will commit it because of the genes. It’s the possibility.

Second is Chemical Imbalance. Dopamine, or something similar, is a chemical in our brain that controls our mood. For some people, this chemistry is not right. It’s similar to not having the proper thyroid level in your body or not having proper secretion of a particular hormone. Not necessarily such deficiency may lead to suicide. But yes, there is a sufficient chance.

Third is behavioral/environment. It depends on the circumstances, like abuse, accidental trauma, grief due to death of near ones, failures in education, profession or relation, and so on. These are difficult times that affect our emotional well-being. Again, it does not lead to suicide automatically but may have the potential to derail.

The theorists can debate for more reasons, but nobody can vouch for sure. These causes are only probabilities.

The real reason may be a sudden impulse caused by multiple factors.

So, can we blame the person for this act? Is he like any other criminal?

Or, is he like any other patient, entitled to get the care?

Once, a young girl lived in our neighborhood...

Once, not so long ago, there was a bright young girl.

Often, the teachers praised her academic talent – she was above average in studies.   

Frequently, the friends asked her to sing a Bollywood number – she was a gifted signer.

She had dreams to fly in the sky one day. That did not mean simply to be able to purchase an airline ticket. She wanted much more –to conquer the world perhaps.

Her parents were proud of her. Yet, they were eager to marry her off as soon as possible.

And she was an obedient daughter.

So, she got married.

Soon, she had a child.

Taking care of her family became her fulltime job.

Everybody saw her doing that job but nobody knew about her feeling…

…of how she felt about the lost dreams,

…of pressures of not being financially independent,

…of the incompatibility with her husband,

…of the helplessness that nothing could improve the situation,

…of perhaps many more issues, pinching her day in and day out,

She was unable to share her feelings with her parents – they would feel the guilt, thought she.

What could she share to her husband, who might be a reason for her troubles!

Her child was too small to listen.

The friends considered her as a happily married. How come she had pent-up emotions, thought they.     

And she was not aware of any helpline. Or perhaps such help-lines did not have enough media exposure to reach to someone like her.  

One day, recently, she committed suicide.

Now, everyone is wondering why?

Suicide by a doctor and a nurse...

March 15, 2014

Chief medical officer of 'Aligarh Muslim University' commits suicide 

March 16, 2014

AIIMS nurse commits suicide in Delhi

These news items are almost unnoticed amid the hullaballoo of General Elections.

  

       Suicides by a doctor and a nurse at the institutions of repute are like just any other incident.

But if we try to understand, it may mean that the medical fraternity is also not immune to what we otherwise presume:

That, the doctors and the nurses can get better “treatment” if required.

Perhaps it may be true only for the usual diseases, and may not be so for the depressed and suicidal…

Why?

The psychiatrists are also there in a hospital. A nurse or a doctor can easily get their appointment if needed.

Then how come suicide still finds its takers among the healthcare professionals?

Do we need something more than our usual apparatus of serving the patients?

Or the mindset of the society that discriminates between the mental illness and other general illnesses is not right?

Why can’t we talk about our depression as openly as we talk about common cough and cold?

Why can’t we discuss about our suicidal thoughts as easily as we can discuss about our kidney or liver problems.

Absence of an emotional healthcare system, integrated with the professional medical services, is perhaps another reason.

That’s why many of us silently suffer from our mental trauma – that may be chronic or acute.

Even, the family members and the workplace colleagues remain ignorant of what a depressed or suicidal person is going through…

Perhaps the timely intervention may save more lives…but first we should be ready to listen… 

...Are we?