Students Suicide: More Than 35 End Life Every Day In India, Says Report

New Delhi: Amidst a spate of suicides in India’s premier colleges, nine students died by suicide in Andhra Pradesh after the Class XI and XII exam results were declared on Wednesday by the Andhra Pradesh Board of Intermediate Examination.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) report, over 13,000 students died in 2021 in India at the rate of more than 35 every day, a rise of 4.5 per cent from the 12,526 deaths in 2020 with 864 out of 10,732 suicides being due to “failure in examination.” The number of deaths by suicide among students saw an increase of 4.5 per cent in 2021, shows the latest data from the NCRB. Maharashtra had the highest number of student deaths by suicide in 2021 with 1,834 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 1,308, and Tamil Nadu with 1,246 deaths.

“As we all know that there is a stigma related to mental health issues. Many times people are not able to approach professional help. So, in such a scenario there are Govt helplines and NGO helplines which are very helpful. First of all, they are free of cost and easily accessible and children could keep a note of these emergency numbers. These helplines provide a very confidential and non-judgemental support to the children when a person is in a high level of distress. To name a few in India, there is Sanjeevani and Sneh, run by NGOs, there are proper timings and languages present on their website,” Dr Ashima Shrivastava, RCI Registered Child and Adult Psychologist told WION.

Spelling out the strategies, which one can use to keep a check on their emotions, she said it could be journaling of thoughts on a paper as an outlet to be processed in a better manner later on, recognising triggers and being mindful of the things that are stressful and identifying right coping mechanisms. A healthy sleep cycle is the most important thing.