Suicide Prevention day!

It is estimated that one million people commit suicide every year; one death after every two minutes. Rates of suicide vary over the course of life span. Among all the suicide related death 60% are happen in Asia. Concerning fact is that it is the highest cause of mortality in the age group of less than 30 years. Another grave statistics is the high estimates in married females. Suicide leaves a grave scar on the psyche of the family, which struggle with the remorse of this tragic event for all the days to come. While the relative may be alive physically, they lose the will to live. Most of them end up with depression. All efforts should be made in order to prevent this dreaded cause of death. Looking at its consequences, one death is too many, in case of suicide.
Suicide is on the rise in Pakistan, so informs research carried out over the course of decade at Aga Khan University. The various social and religious factors which use to protect people from the suicide are changing. The fine balance between the will to live and impulse to harm oneself is being disturbed. What are the factors which cause this: literature informs us that there are some immediate factors while other are long term contextual difficulties which makes people vulnerable to deliberate self harm. Social and economic deprivation makes people vulnerable to self harming behavior. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that for every suicide there are at least 10 to 20 cases of deliberate self harm. Delayed dispensation of justice, social inequity, economic deprivation and sustained stress push people towards hopelessness. In desperation individuals resort to self harm. Once they cross this threshold than it becomes difficult to get back to the baseline mental health.
It is encouraging that there is an international recognition on the burden of this issue. A concerted effort on parts of International Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP) and WHO has made it possible to organize a World Suicide Prevention day on September 10th , 2009. This was organized initially in 2003, catching momentum in subsequent years. This year a conference is being organized at Aga Khan University on September 30th, 2009, with a theme ‘Suicide – Hidden realities in Pakistan.
This task is too important to be dealt by mental health care professionals, alone. Media along with the civil society has to play its role in propagating the message that suicide is preventable. This needs to be done in cultural context. One of the biggest impediments in reducing the stigma attached with this mental health problem is its legal status in the context of Pakistan. According to Pakistani law, suicide is a crime, punishable by jail term and financial penalty. Though conviction rates are low, it impairs help-seeking, limiting it to handful of centers with medico-legal cell. Most victims seek care in the emergency care departments of general hospitals, which are ill equipped, in terms of training and expertise related to psychological management of such cases. This slipshod approach leaves many hanging. Easy, over the counter accessibility of drugs is another menace which feeds this problem. Perhaps the most troublesome predicament is the availability of Organophosphates in the rural and semi-urban settings. It is not surprising that these factors contribute to the rising suicide rates.
Relatives and family members have to deal with the issues of Suicide. It is ironic when they get blamed for the death of the relative. However burden of this grief can be heavy; mind goes back to things which could have been done differently, the micro-expression of relief which, in hindsight, are dreaded way of saying a farewell to long period of misery. Therefore it is equally important to address the grief and guilt inculcated in the relatives of the deceased. Media when employed constructively can reduce the burden of this mental, social and public health problem.