Bid to check spurt in Sikkim suicides

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT,  11 May 2019, Gangtok: The Sikkim health department in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (Nimhans) on Friday launched the Sikkim Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN), a project to address the growing incidents of suicide in the Himalayan state.

As a first step, the project envisages forming a research team to ascertain the reasons for the rise in the incidents of suicide.

Sikkim, which has a population of about 6.5 lakh, recorded a suicide rate of 37 per cent in the last decade, which is the second highest in the country after Puducherry. Suicide rate is the number of suicides per one lakh population.

"The high rate of suicides in Sikkim is an issue that needs to be understood and tackled. Which is why the state government has signed a MoU with Nimhans to understand the causes of suicides in the state," said an official of the health department.

The official said many reasons are attributed for suicides, including loneliness, addiction to drugs and alcohol and marital discord.

"An estimated 70 per cent of people who have committed suicide were loners; they were either separated couples, aged people living away from their children or children from broken families. There is no study to connect suicide with adultery or other factors, but many people have committed suicide due to marital discord," he said.

Officials said the incidents of suicide also raise questions on the mental health condition of the people.