Rise In Incidents Of Suicides During Covid-19 Pandemic Environment In India

By Debdutta Ghosh

The novel coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns and social restrictions has become a major cause of suicides in India. 

According to multiple news reports published since the imposition of the lockdown in Indian in the fourth week of March, suicide was identified to be the leading cause for many “non-coronavirus deaths” in India because of distress triggered by the nationwide lockdown. 

A group of researchers comprising public interest technologist Thejesh GN, activist Kanika Sharma and assistant professor of legal practice at Jindal Global School of Law Aman had identified at least 338 deaths that happened between March 19 and May 2 were directly related to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Another study conducted by the Indian Psychiatry Society (IPS) claimed to have found a 20 percent rise in mental illness cases since the lockdown with at least one in five Indians getting affected. This is because of a sense of fear of losing their jobs, and businesses due to the lockdown which is resulting in mental distress, the IPS study, that was conducted through a survey. 

“The lockdown has had a massive impact on the lifestyle of people. They are staying indoors with limited resources. They are now suffering from anxiety and panic attacks,” says Manu Tiwari, a mental health and behavioural sciences expert.

Some doctors and mental health practitioners believe that a post-Covid-19 social environment will be a fertile breeding ground for an increase in chronic stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol dependence, and self-harm.

This was also reiterated by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who urged various government across the world, as well as the civil society and health authorities to urgently address mental health needs of people cropping up because of coronavirus pandemic.

“After decades of neglect and under-investment in mental health services, the Covid-19 pandemic is now hitting families and communities with additional mental stress,” he said.

Incidents of suicides in India related directly to the pandemic have been making headlines of news paper and channels. 

For example, on June 10, two Covid-19 patients in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala committed suicide within a span of eight hours inside the dedicated Covid-19 ward at the Medical College Hospital in the South Indian city. The two patients were reportedly very depressed and worried about their future since they were detected to have been infected with the killer virus.  

Less than a week earlier on June 5, a 65-year-old man to committed suicide in Beed district of Maharashtra states over the fear of contracting Covid-19 infection. According to the local police, the body of the man was found hanging from a tree in his farm. The police also confirmed, after talking to the family members of the man, the suicide was because the person was almost paranoia with the fear of contacting Covid-19, 

Multiple reports from Bihar, an Eastern state of India, in early June talked about the growing fear of hunger and an uncertainty among the poor in the state because of the pandemic and the lockdown. Many of them are migrant labourers who have lost their jobs and are now solely dependent on government aid for survival as they have been left jobless and penniless by the lockdown. Many have committed suicide because of this situation. The names of Sachitanand Shah, Md. Rafique and Mukesh Rawat were just a few who committed suicide within a span of just a few days. Police said that all of them were skilled labourers and had allegedly committed suicide because of depressed after being rendered jobless due to the pandemic and the lockdown. 

“These people were worried about the survival of their families and the education of their children after they were forced to sit at home without any work due to the lockdown,” said a local police official about the deaths. 

On June 15, a senior government officer from the Indian Revenue Service in Delhi committed suicide because he was fearful that he might spread Covid-19 to his family. The 56-year-old IRS officer ended his life by drinking an “acid-like substance” in his car in the national capital. What was distressing was the fact that the officer had tested negative after undergoing a test for the disease about a week prior to the incident. Police said he was still scared that his family might get infected by the deadly virus because of him. This was evident in a suicide note that was recovered from his car.

A day ago, a 24-year-old man, who was admitted to a private hospital in Pune city of Maharashtra state for breathing issues, jumped from the third floor of the building and killed himself. The police said the man had stepped out of the ward on the pretext of going to the toilet and instead jumped down from the terrace of the building. The police confirmed that the young man was under severe stress and fear that he had contracted Covid-19. 

“His throat swab sample was collected on Thursday afternoon and after hours he committed suicide. He was facing psychological issues and seems to have committed the act in a fit of psychosis,” the police said. 

A couple days ago, another Covid-19 patient allegedly committed suicide inside state-run GB Panth Hospital in Agartala in the Eastern India state of Tripura where she was undergoing Covid-19 treatment. 

There were more such incidents in India in May. For example, a 26-year-old studying in Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand killed herself because she was unable to go back to her parents’ home during the lockdown. A 56-year-old person in the state of Andhra Pradesh committed suicide by hanging himself near his mother’s grave because he thought he had contracted Covid-19 and was afraid he would infect his three children and wife.

According to experts, with people working various states outside of their home state returning back home to India’s rural areas during the pandemic because they had lost their jobs is also creating fertile ground for a deterioration of mental health.

“Rural India may be particularly susceptible to suicide due to the influx of migrant workers, and also because it is home to the at-risk farming community,” says Nelson Vinod Moses of the Suicide Prevention India Foundation.

“The lockdown has had a massive impact on the lifestyle of people. They are staying indoors with limited resources. They are now suffering from anxiety and panic attacks,” says Manu Tiwari, a mental health and behavioural sciences expert.

Practitioners and mental health professionals in India are now calling out to impose the Mental Healthcare Act that was introduced three years ago that pledges to provide mental health care to all Indians and introduce a suicide prevention policy.

Practitioners and mental health professionals in India are now calling out to impose the Mental Healthcare Act that was introduced three years ago that pledges to provide mental health care to all Indians and introduce a suicide prevention policy

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