Suicide rates in South Asia 

Nafisa Anjum Ahana

Considering universally, suicide is an important cause of mortality. It is difficult to find an unmistakable data to transpire the suicide rates. As a consequence, my objective is to amalgamate the suicide incidents in South Asia predominantly.  

The suicide rates in South Asia are high compared to the global average. The worldwide suicide rates in South Asia is assessed at 11.4 per 100,000 residents, making it the most common cause of death. 

Suicide rates in South Asia is nowadays getting more evident to see because of the mental disorders, drug misuse, trauma, family’s mental/physical torture, nihilism etc.  

Suicide tendencies in South Asia: The South Asian countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. We can see that the suicide tendencies are one of the reasons for increasing the suicide rates. The suicide rates in South Asia are also evident and witnessed to be seen and justified.  

Mental illness/depression: Depression is the most concurrent reason that most of the people attempt suicide. Approximately 90% of people who had attempt suicide were suffering from mental illness. Substances used as an impulsivity such as, alcohol, drugs are the warning signs for upraised suicide risks. 

Traumatic stress: Childhood sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, war trauma are the most significant signs why people have traumatic experiences.  

Fear or loss: A person may decide to take his life in fear of losing something.  

Bullying or shaming 

Financial problems  

. Job loss 

Loss of social status 

Loss of friend or family 

Hopelessness: In many studies it has been found that hopelessness is one of the main reasons for committing suicide either it’s a short term or long term. Attempting suicide seems like a feasible option when one loses all hopes from life. 

Belief that your life is a burden to others: This type of oratories leads a person to take his life. Frequently people see themselves as a burden and feel worthless due to the massive situations. The people with chronic diseases and terminal pains often consider themselves as a burden to others. 

Rates of suicide attempts 

In 2018, the suicide rates were higher among adult ages of 45-54 years and 55-64 years with the rate highest among adult ages 52-59 years.  

Youth suicide rates: 

The persistent chasing for the perfection in our society has disclosed the teenagers to different aggravations faced by all age group before them. As they are pressurized to conquer higher expectations, many of them choose to exterior that they are surviving well to avoid being viewed as weak. 

In 2018, 599 Japanese of 19 years killed themselves according to a government. The rate of suicide deaths per 100,000 people was 5.3 of the age group 10-19 was the highest in 40 years. Some common reasons were like, disorder at school, poor educational performance, etc. In addition, the issues in classroom indicates to the story as well.  

Some other factors are domestic violence, poverty, academic stress, unemployment opportunities, etc. are mostly seen in India in a considerable young population. Reasonably, Bangladesh and Thailand also faced high teenage suicide rates in 2016. On the other hand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam had low teenage suicide rate. 

Suicide among Children: 

Though the suicide rates among children are rare, but some children do attempt suicide due to mental imbalance. 

To justify the worldwide suicide rates in children aged 10-14 years in two decades were: 1990-1999 and 2000- 2009.  

A mean of suicide rates: 

Bangladesh is 58.3 (SD = 63.22) 

India is 28.8 (SD = 32.17) 

Sri Lanka is 25.7 (SD = 4.80) 

Nepal is 8.6 (SD = 8.87) 

Pakistan is 3.6 (SD = 5.06) 

Afghanistan has no actual report of suicide rates. 

The highest suicide rate countries in South Asia : 

Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka,  

Preventions required to stop suicide rates 

. Don’t take their feelings for granted 

. Look at suicides as a cry for help 

. Be a good listener 

. Motivate and encourage them to get a help for their depression  

. Ask about their feelings, and don’t be afraid of that 

. Don’t leave them alone in their danger 

. Inspire them for a mental health  

Talk with them cordially because secrets can kill too 

Organizations that came forward for suicide preventions 

. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP 

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 

. Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicides (SPTS) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

. Action Alliance for Suicide Preventions 

Suicide Prevention Resource Centre (SPRC) 

Crisis Text Line  

Frequently Asked Questions  

1.Does mental health ever go away?  

Ans- You might go through multiple mental illness. If your symptoms are severe, it’s not likely to go away its own. And if it does it probably can come back again. 

  1. Why India’s suicide rate is so high?

Ans- India’s government has been criticized by the media for its mental health care system for which it is facing the highest suicide rate.  

3.How many people kill themselves a day? 

Ans- The suicide rate is 13.42 per 100,000 individuals as per the annual age adjusted. Considering the average, 123 people commit suicide per day. More often, men die by suicide 3.53 times than women. 

Conclusion: The reported suicide rates are high compared to the average globally, though there is a dearth of reliable data. On a view point, the magnitude of the problem of suicide is in need of significant public health importance. 

Suicide is motivated by Mental Illness. We can never stop the rates of it unless we consider it as a significant barrier in development rather than judging the suicidal people and considering them stupid. If we want to stop such tendencies then we must get a fresh environment with convenient abstracted people. 

The suicide rates in South Asia has got a verbal majority because of the obscure in awareness mentally. We can’t even justify which words get poisonous. Therefore, sensibility is also a great mark to be gained in people for stopping not only others but also themselves in choosing wrong paths.