Identify triggers to help check suicides: Doctor

When a person commits suicide, the blame is usually pinned on a mental health condition such as depression or stress. This sparks talks on the importance of identifying signs of depression and timely help to those affected.

When a person commits suicide, the blame is usually pinned on a mental health condition such as depression or stress. This sparks talks on the importance of identifying signs of depression and timely help to those affected.

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Dr Shubhangi Parkar, head of the psychiatry department at KEM Hospital, thinks we need to change this “unidimensional way” of looking at suicide cases. This year, at least 65 suicide cases were reported from Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

In a report recently published in an international medical journal, Dr Parkar has suggested a “socio-cultural autopsy” — an analysis of the social, cultural and environmental factors that could be triggers — to develop successful strategies to prevent suicides and promote mental health of the community at large.

On Wednesday, the body of Jhugar Khandwawala, a chartered accountant, was found hanging in his Kurla residence. The police suspect he ended his life because he was depressed.

“Just because Jhugar was depressed doesn’t mean he suffered from clinical depression, which is a mental illness. Giving him anti-depressants would not have helped,” said Dr Parkar. “We need to look at the social-cultural context. He was divorced and living alone. The emotional disturbance may have been caused by various factors.”

Dr Parkar and her student Balkrishna Nagarsekar had conducted a socio-cultural autopsy in the slums of Malvani. Families of 76 people who had committed suicide between 1997 and 2003 were traced and interviewed.

The researchers found that though the relatives reported mental health problems, such as tension and sadness, to be the underlying reason in 78 per cent of cases, they were identified as the trigger in less than 25 per cent of the cases. The families considered social issues such as marital conflicts, victimisation of women and financial or work-related problems to be the cause in 73 per cent of suicide cases.

“Alcoholism has been identified as a risk factor for suicide for long. But during this study we discovered that it can also push the person living with the problem-drinker to commit suicide,” said Dr Parkar, adding that a 19-year-old had specifically blamed her father’s drinking for her mother’s suicide.

The report concluded that culturally-sensitive social interventions are as important as mental health services to prevent suicides.

“In the Malvani slum community, the social interventions would be required to tackle alcoholism and victimisation of women,” said Dr Parkar.