Bangalore: Garden city turning into suicide capital
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (DV)
Bangalore, Oct 5: Bangalore, the hub of India's IT world, a cosmopolitan city that has attracted people from all over, is fast turning into a suicide capital too. From being the garden city of India, Bangalore may well gain the sobriquet 'suicide city', with over 550 people committing suicide in just four months in the city.
As per data available, between May and August 2013, as many as 572 people ended their lives for various reasons and in various ways. Among them, a majority 393 were men and the rest women, indicating a dwindling capacity to cope with pressure and demands of modern life. Psychiatrists opine that the increase in suicide rate is due to the high work pressure and people’s failure to cope with it.
Another disturbing trend noticed is that despite being considered as a city for opportunities with high-profile companies and industries in and around Bangalore, the rate of suicide among the unemployed in 2013 has almost doubled since 2011. In 2012 too, Bangalore, with 166 cases, accounted for more than 50 percent of suicides nationwide by the unemployed.
Poverty is another prime reason driving people to take the extreme step, and again, Bangalore recorded over 50 percent of the total suicides in the country in this category in 2012.
Family problem is also among the top reasons for increasing rate of suicide. The nuclear family system, mostly with both husband and wife working, has meant less quality time with family, often leading to quarrels and misunderstandings, and worse, suspicions of extra-marital affairs. A recent nation-wide study found that a married man commits suicide every nine minutes, the prime reason said to be misuse of law by revenge seeking wives. In the same measure, harassment for dowry by the husband and his family has also led many a woman to end life.
Talk openly
Talking about one's problems with a confidante, a friend or a close family member, is probably the best way to free one's mind and relieve stress. In cities like Bangalore with its breakneck speed of life, friendship with neighbours or even outside one's workspace is fast declining. Given the endless hours spent in traffic jams, meeting friends on a regular basis has become a tough task for most. Piling up one's worries and troubles within oneself eventually leads to depression, often leading to suicidal tendencies.
“People are losing patience and endurance and they chose the path of suicide. Suicidal tendencies have increased among people. When problems are shared with others, one can find relief. This will reduce the suicidal tendencies,” said a leading psychiatrist in the city.
People from various places migrate to the city and then cannot cope with the lifestyle of Bangalore. People from small towns sometimes suffer from 'culture shock' and peer pressure in their desperate attempt to 'fit in' with the crowd. Such people have to not only fight to survive, but also deal with loneliness, home sickness and feeling of alienation.
Suicide among youth
Suicide among youth is also a major cause of worry, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total cases of suicides in the city. In most families, with both parents working, the children are left alone, brought up by a nanny or forced to tend for themselves. Without parental guidance and love, children seek friendship and peer support outside, and often tend to fall prey to bad company and bad habits.
Being unsuccessful in love is yet another reason for suicide among the youth. Failure to cope with rejection, coupled with humiliation, can have disastrous effect on mentally weak youngsters.
Also, pressure from family, especially parents to do well in studies has resulted in a number of suicides, especially during exam and result times. A child's achievement in academics has become a matter of prestige for most parents, and the effect is directly on the child. Comparisons between children both inside and outside schools, especially by parents themselves, has a negative impact on the child's mind. Parents must be encouraged to recognize their child's talent and interests, and channelize his or her efforts in that front, rather than forcing the child to be good at something he/she is not.