| | | | Hello Pz10,
September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, and we've tried to do our bit in writing about the issue. This newsletter brings four stories from Factchecker.in and IndiaSpend, which shine the light on what needs to be done to prevent suicides and the stigma around them.
Good quality data on deaths by suicide go a long way in creating policy interventions that could reduce suicides. Accurate data become even more crucial at a time when India recorded the highest suicide rate since it started collecting these data, at 12 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people. The issue lies in the fact that experts can't be sure how much of this increase is due to better reporting of suicides and how much due to the economic distress and stress wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic. Prachi Salve looked at the #DataGaps in India's records of these deaths, and what could be done for better data. | | One of the reasons for the stigma around suicides is that many people think that attempting to die by suicide is a criminal offence, which makes people brush these issues under the carpet, rather than reach out for help to prevent this. Nidhi Jacob finds out whether attempt to suicide is in fact a punishable offence, in this explainer.
India needs to do more to provide help to those who are contemplating suicide and struggling with mental health issues. Factchecker.in's Nidhi Jacob and Divyani Dubey contacted several mental health helplines, including calling the Union government-run helpline some 40-odd times to reach someone at the other end. Find out how many times they were able to reach a human voice at the other side, and why improving helplines can be critical in preventing suicides.
Helplines are besieged by a shortage of funds, lack of volunteers, technical glitches and burnout in volunteers who work at these helplines, they found. Nidhi and Divyani then spoke to 10 suicide helplines to understand how their volunteers are trained and what can be done to make it easier for them.
Thank you for continuing to support us as we keep the focus on issues of public interest. | | | Prachi Salve
Research Manager respond@indiaspend.org | | | | | | | | | |
