Mental health or work crisis?  India's suicide data indicates both.

Mental health or work crisis? India’s suicide data indicates both.

When India released its data on deaths by suicide in 2021, two things stood out: the suicide rate was at an all-time high and 1 in 4 people who died were daily wage earners.

Experts say the situation is “alarming”, but for those working in the labor sector, it came as no surprise. It was a stark reminder of the continued social, economic and mental toll of COVID-19 on marginalized groups.

Why we wrote this

While many countries avoided the projected rise in suicides during the pandemic, new data shows India’s toll rose in 2020 and 2021. Experts say the deaths point to an urgent need for a prevention strategy more holistic suicide.

During the pandemic, many at the bottom of the country’s increasingly informal workforce have faced denial of fair wages, mounting debt and a lack of means of redress. This type of pressure “affects an individual at all levels and has an impact on their interpersonal relationships”, explains Lakshmi Vijayakumar, psychiatrist and founder of the suicide prevention association SNEHA.

At the same time, a growing body of research points to the need to move away from examining suicide through the prism of individual health and to recognizing it as a broader societal issue.

Dr Vijayakumar said tackling India’s suicide crisis will require the involvement of multiple sectors, “and this can only be possible if we have a strong coordinating body or a national strategy”.

Suicide data in India is massively underreported, yet the country has the highest number of suicide deaths in the world. When the National Crime Records Bureau recently released its 2021 data, two things stood out: the suicide rate was at an all-time high, and 1 in 4 people who died by suicide were daily wage earners.

Experts say the situation is “alarming”, but for those working in the labor sector, “it’s no surprise”, says Divya Varma, who leads outreach and policy advocacy at the Aajeevika Office, a non-profit organization working with migrant worker communities. It was a stark reminder of the continued social, economic and mental toll of COVID-19 on marginalized groups.

“The trauma that we saw on the ground, it showed up in numbers,” she adds.

Why we wrote this

While many countries avoided the projected rise in suicides during the pandemic, new data shows India’s toll rose in 2020 and 2021. Experts say the deaths point to an urgent need for a prevention strategy more holistic suicide.

What are the main lessons from the new data?

Contrary to expectations, most countries have not experienced a significant increase in suicide deaths during COVID-19. India, however, recorded 164,033 suicide deaths in 2021, an increase of more than 7% from 2020, which saw a 10% jump from the previous year.

‘Illness’ and ‘family problems’ were cited as the main drivers of suicide deaths last year. But when we look at the data by other metrics — high numbers of suicide deaths among middle-aged men, the self-employed, and daily wage earners — we can actually see the results of economic pressure” affecting an individual at all levels”. and impacts their interpersonal relationships,” says Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, a psychiatrist and founder of the Chennai-based non-profit suicide prevention organization SNEHA.

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