the goan I network
MARGAO
Saying that schools and educational institutions are the right place to bring about awareness amongst children and prevent suicides, educationist Dr Narayan Desai said education should play a central role in tackling the increasing number of suicides amongst the 15-24 age groups.
GOACAN convenor Roland Martins also demanded the setting up of a Task Force by the government to understand the growing number of suicides in the State and recommend measures after taking inputs from the stakeholders.
In fact, a panel discussion on the theme “Working Together to Prevent Suicide” organised by the team of District Mental Health Programme, Department of Psychiatry, Hospicio to commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day has stressed on the need for all stakeholders to come together and address the growing problem.
In his key note address, Dr Desai said teachers have a big role to play in addressing the issue of suicides, saying teachers must become more professional in their outlook and approach. “The task of becoming something is creating pressure on young minds. Why is this happening. Are we failing to understand our youngsters. We need to know the problem since the problem is more amongst the age group of 15-24 years,” he said.
Dr Lourencinho Rodrigues, programme officer, Department of Psychiatry, while addressing the gathering, pointed out that suicide is the second cause of death after coronary diseases. Quoting World Health Organisation’s statistics, Dr Rodrigues said that one lakh adolescents commit suicide every year, adding that there’s one suicidal death every 40 seconds considering the fact that one million people die every year by committing suicide.
Summarising the panel discussion, noted psychiatrist Dr Rajendra Hegde said that the speakers have stressed on the need for all the stakeholders to join hands to prevent suicides.
Statistics dished out by the Department of Psychiatry has revealed that 15 suicides are reported every hour on an average and that the rates of suicides are higher in the age group of 15-24 years. The rate of suicides are higher in men than in women.
Experts pointed out there’s no single cause for suicide, adding that most suicides often occur when stressors exceed current coping abilities of someone suffering from mental health condition.
