Srinagar, Aug 24: In Kashmir, there have been several reports of young people turning to suicide. The most often reported suicide methods are hanging oneself and plunging into a river. But a variety of things can push someone to this extreme.
Several individual and societal variables may influence suicidal thoughts and actions. Suicide rates may more accurately represent a societal problem than a person’s damaged mental condition.
The economic and social fabric of the region has been impacted by the valley’s ongoing political unrest and the shadow of terrorism; stress factors that have resulted have an impact on everyday life for the average person.
The problems in Kashmir are getting worse due to declining educational standards, skyrocketing unemployment, and rising health-related issues.
According to the National Human Rights Commission, suicide has been the second leading cause of death in Kashmir as of 2020, behind insurgency. According to reports, the suicide rate has grown by 26 times, from 0.5 per 100,000 people before the insurgency started to 13 per 100,000 people.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, often known as Doctors Without Borders) conducted research that found an alarming 400% rise in the suicide rate.
586 persons in Kashmir attempted suicide in 2021. 20 people were involved in Jammu.
Both the Budgam district in central Kashmir and the Baramulla district in northern Kashmir reported 73 suicide cases apiece. Anantnag in south Kashmir comes next, with 67 instances recorded. There were 51 suicide attempts recorded in Srinagar.
In Kashmir, 41 occurrences of aiding suicide were reported in 2021 compared to 35 in 2020.
The pandemic year of 2020 had over 450 suicide instances reported, which was a ten-year high.
In Jammu & Kashmir in 2017, 287 people committed suicide. In 2018, it climbed to 330.
With 284 recorded cases, 2019 showed a slight decline in the number of cases. In that year, the (previous) state reported a suicide rate of 10.3 per 100,000 people. The common nationwide value is 10.2.
The valley saw 3,024 suicide incidents between 2010 and 2020.
A senior clinical psychologist with a practice in Kashmir stated that suicides always occurred. However, because social media is so accessible now, incidences are publicised much more, he said.
He brings up an important factor that plays a role in the valley’s rising suicide rate. “A youth could die from (drug) overdoes and it may appear as suicide as the addiction might be undiagnosed,” the speaker stated.
Suicidal tendency is a personality-based tendency, he explained, adding that “it is impulsive behaviour.” Surface-level factors like a bad home environment, strained interpersonal relationships (and even break-ups), financial setbacks, failure in the examination for youth, etc. may be an impetus for suicide.
This demonstrates the change from regular social encounters to relying on social media updates for location knowledge.
The economy and political unpredictability are general causes, while family and household concerns are more personal.
Divorces have increased in Kashmir, which is despised, due to rising rates of marital strife, incompatibility, domestic violence, fractured houses, and dysfunctional families.
Many people who decide to stay in an unfavourable but socially acceptable position choose to suicide. The majority of women who killed themselves did so because of “marriage-related issues.”
