But the TRUTH is- all the above suicides were completely PREVENTABLE.
Roy Abraham Kallivayalil
Professor & Head of Psychiatry, Pushpagiri Med College,Thiruvalla. & Secretary General, WPA Geneva .
‘Le Suicide’ is the famous painting of 1877 by Eduard Manet. This is an apt time to revisit the theme, as we are distressed by the #suicide of several young people in Kerala during the last few days. Rather than looking away and trying to find justifications, this is a time for introspection!
Anju P Shaji (20) was a young girl appearing for her BCom examination, alleged to have indulged in copying. She jumped from the nearby bridge to the Meenachil river and ended her life.
Unni (33) who had fled the #Covid19 quarantine on the last day at Trivandrum Medical College was arrested by police and brought back. He hanged himself on the next day. It turned out his Covid-19 test result is negative!
Murukesan (48) with #Covid19 symptoms died by hanging yesterday at the Trivandrum Medical College in the Covid-19 isolation ward. He is not yet tested Covid positive!
Raju Devasia a young hotel worker in Kottayam Dist, lost his work due to #Covid19 lock down, ended his life after writing a letter to the Chief Minister on 8th June detailing his poverty. After his death, the local Panchayat granted him a house under the Prime Ministers Awana Yojana!
We can see, there is a collective and systemic failure- by the educational authorities (1st), by the police and people (2nd), health authorities (3rd) and Panchayat/ Revenue (4th). But none of them will own up any sort of responsibility. And none will be punished after detailed and thorough enquiry!
But the TRUTH is- all the above suicides were completely PREVENTABLE. If the college authorities had given compassionate counselling and entrusted the young Anju to her parents, if the police and the people had not treated Unni as a criminal, if the health authorities were conscious of the mental distress of Kumaresan and if the panchayat was aware of a poor broken man, their lives could have been saved!
This is not to blame anyone! But we must learn from these tragedies and let it never happen again! Given the magnitude of the public health problem of suicidal behaviours, there is an urgent need for Union and State governments to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy.
Identifying the key stakeholders in suicide prevention is among the first steps in this. Suicide prevention demands a multi-sectoral approach, involving health care professionals as well as representatives from other sectors
.A list of stakeholders could include representatives from various government sectors, including the Ministry of Health, Education and Social Welfare, Home (Police), Parliamentarians, policy makers, politicians and member of the Public. Mental health services should be strengthened everywhere with psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, and social workers from both the public and the private sectors and NGOs working in collaboration. Will Governments take any action?
Albert Camus: ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’
“Suicide is the only serious philosophical problem”.