The World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10 is organised by the International Association for Suicide Prevention to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented and to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides.Suicide prevention is a collaborative effort and it starts with accepting the fact that suicide is a major public health problem and steps can be taken to prevent it.World Suicide Prevention day is an opportunity to reopen the dialogue on suicide prevention and examine our role in ensuring that we save lives and reach out to those in need of help around us.According to the World Health Organisation, every year, there are 8 lakh deaths due to suicide and 20 million attempted suicides. Every 40 seconds, someone dies of suicide in the world. What is more alarming is that almost 80% of these deaths are in the low and middle income countries like India and it is the third leading cause of death in the age group of 15-19 years.In Goa, the suicide rate was 16.7 per lakh population in 2018, which is above the national average of 10.2 per lakh population. However, one must also acknowledge the fact that there could be a lot of under-reporting in other states.Much of this self-harm is impulsive. In the current scenario, with the Covid pandemic affecting each one of us directly or indirectly, there is an even greater need to promote well-being and resilience.Never let the stumbling blocks in your path make you feel it’s the end of the journey. Suicide does not end the pain, it passes it on to someone else. Suicide prevention needs community support, responsible and sensitive media reporting, local education, awareness on the warning signs, building resilience in people and take measures to restrict means of suicide.We all know of people around us, young and old, who have attempted or committed suicide. The medical profession itself is not spared. According to statistics, physician suicide rate is 1.41 times greater than the general population. According to the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 30% of Indian doctors and physicians go through depression and 17% had thoughts of ending their lives. While physicians reach out to others in troubled times, they also need to reach out to their own colleagues.It’s time to introspect and ask ourselves if we are making the necessary effort to prevent this in the future. Let's work together to prevent suicide, the problem is real.Let us make an attempt to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need. Building resilience and improving the support systems and working environment is the need of the hour.(Dr Amit Dias has been working in the area of mental Health research for the last 20 years. He is faculty at the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Goa Medical College and In Charge of the Rural Health and Training Centre at Mandur)
