DR UBALDINA NORONHA
Every year on September 10, the world marks World Suicide Prevention Day. It is an invitation to pause and ask how we speak about suicide in our homes, classrooms and communities.
This year continues a three‑year global campaign led by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), together with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The theme for 2024–2026 is ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide’, with the 2026 call to action being ‘Start the conversation.’ In plain terms, it asks us to move from hushed whispers, blame and sensational headlines to honest, compassionate and solution‑oriented dialogue.
The National Crime Records Bureau data consistently places Goa among the states with relatively high suicide rates. What these numbers underscore is that suicide in Goa is not a rare, isolated tragedy; it is a public‑health pattern that demands public conversation and coordinated action. Decriminalisation of suicide was necessary as it created legal space for help. We must build the human and institutional capacity to fill that space with real psychological support.
Suicide is often framed as a private family matter. The new narrative treats it as a shared responsibility. Educational institutions and workplaces can adopt clear policies on stress and access to counsellors. Housing societies, panchayats and local bodies can display helpline numbers and organise awareness talks. If someone in our circle has attempted suicide or expressed suicidal thoughts, we can check in regularly. A simple ‘I have been thinking about you; how are you today?’ can be protective.
Public attention, media narratives, and prevention efforts rightly focus on the person who died, while the psychological aftermath for those left behind is frequently overlooked, treated as a private sorrow rather than a public-health concern. In psychological literature, people who have lost a loved one to suicide are often referred to as survivors of suicide loss, and their experience is studied under the framework of suicide bereavement.
Research consistently shows that this form of grief sits at the intersection of trauma and mourning and carries elevated risks of complicated grief, depression, post-traumatic stress and even suicidal ideation in the bereaved themselves.
What follows is often a silent, stigmatised suffering. Survivors describe living in a ‘world of silence, shame, guilt and depression’. They are haunted by unanswerable ‘why’ questions, self-blame, a sense of abandonment and even isolation.
Friends and family are often unsure of what to say and withdraw from the bereaved person, thus compounding the pain. In this vacuum, some survivors endure what could be described as a silent form of suicide, not necessarily ending their lives, but experiencing a slow erosion of hope, identity, and emotional vitality. Their inner world becomes marked by intrusive thoughts, numbness, and a pervasive sense that life has lost meaning, yet they rarely receive the same compassion, visibility or structured support afforded to other forms of bereavement.
Recognising suicide survivors as a vulnerable group in their own right is essential. Without intentional support, their grief risks remaining invisible, unspoken and dangerously unattended.
We should learn the basics of suicide first aid, how to recognise warning signs, ask about suicide and guide someone towards help so that death by suicide will reduce. At the same time, we need to also look after those close vulnerable ones who are left behind. Mental health NGOs can help in dispersing this information. Display of national and state helplines that offer 24x7 access is essential. For instance, Tele‑MANAS (14416 / 1800‑89‑14416) offers free 24×7 multilingual support and can be used for both those attempting suicide and those surviving it.
The global theme ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide’ is ultimately a call to act together. This requires the start of a longer, community‑wide conversation, one that moves us from shock and silence to early recognition, timely help and, above all, hope for both those contemplating suicide and those who suffer the silent scars of suicide.
( The writer is Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, St Xavier’s College, Mapusa)
