Suicide in India: Distinct epidemiological patterns and implications

• Main Authors: Starlin Vijay Mythri, Johann Alex Ebenezer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2016-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
• Subjects: Attempted suicide; epidemiology; India; self-injurious behavior; suicide
• Online Access: http://www.ijpm.info/article.asp?issn=0253-7176;year=2016;volume=38;issue=6;spage=493;epage=498;aulast=Mythri

Suicide is a societal crisis which also deeply impacts the personal and family realms. Indian suicidal data present distinctive epidemiological patterns when we compare it with the global suicide rates and trends. Higher proportions of young individuals are resorting to suicide compared to any other country in the world, and Indian suicide rates, especially South Indian rates, are one of the highest in the world. In this article, we present various historical aspects and theories of Indian suicide and review of available Indian research from various sources such as community, hospitals, schools and forensic settings. We discuss our findings which reveal the distinctiveness of Indian data when we compare these with global data and draw implications for practice and policy.