India accounts for 37% of Global Suicide Deaths among Women, Marriage one of the leading cause

September 14,2018:

According to a Study, India accounted for 37 per cent of global suicide deaths among women and 24 per cent among men in 2016.

A study published by “The Global Burden of Disease Study” which was published in Lancet Public Health journal, stated that 63 per cent of all suicide deaths reported in India were in the age group of 15-39.

India is home to around 57 million people (nearly 18 per cent of the global estimate) suffering from depression, as per WHO.

Terming it a “public health crisis”, Professor Rakhi Dandona from Public Health Foundation of India stated that there was an increase of 40 per cent in the number of suicide deaths between 1990 and 2016.

Report further adds that a warning level of ignorance and stigmatization, family pressures, career, and financial worries, as well as the increasing influence of social media, are reasons behind the risk of high suicide rates in India.

Study found wide variations in suicide death rate across states in India. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, and Tripura had high suicide death rates for both men and women, in addition to Kerala and Chhattisgarh which had high suicide death rates for men.

Suicide death rate for women in India was found to be 15 per one lakh women, which was twice the global suicide rate for women (7 per one lakh women).

One of the leading cause of suicide amongst women in India could be attributed to marriage. It states that married women account for high proportion of suicide deaths in India.

“Marriage is known to be less protective against suicide for women because of arranged and early marriage, young motherhood, low social status, domestic violence, and economic dependence”, Report added.

Source Indian Express