Ahmedabad records highest number of attempted suicides

Four districts of Gujarat that are home to its four major cities have recorded the highest number of cases of attempted suicide. Data shared by the 108 Emergency Service showed that Ahmedabad leads in such cases.

The district recorded 435 calls in which someone attempted sucicide in the year 2018 and by July 2019 it has already received 298 such calls.

Apart from the four major cities a surprising addition is Bhavnagar that saw 141 such cases being reported in the year 2018 . In fact Bhavnagar reported more cases of attempted suicide for both years 2018 and 2019 than Vadodara.

Talking about the trends in suicide prevention Anju Sheth, founder SAATH, an organisation that works for suicide prevention, said that over the years there has been a rise in those in the age group of 12 to 25 calling for help.

She said that the four major cities of Gujarat leads in suicides with Ahmedabad and Rajkot often competing for the top slot.

"Often the reason for seeking help ranges from study pressure to parental and peer pressure. Relationship woes also tops the list for this age group," said Sheth. She said that the biggest problem these days is people's ability to cope with their difficulties.

"There is a rise in frustration levels meanwhile the level of patience in youth is also on the decline which exacerbates the situation," said Sheth.

She added that these days many of those who seek help choose to do it through emails. "Counselling people on email becomes more difficult than face to face counselling or counselling on phone. But emails provide anonymity and many prefer it these days," said Sheth.

Nagesh Sood, secretary, Befrienders India which too works in suicide prevention said that there is a need to train people in creating awareness to help identify those who are seeking help.

"We need to train more people to identify people in distress. These people can help prevent suicides because suicide victims often show several indications before they take the extreme step of ending their lives," said Sood. He said these days more and more people were bottling up their feelings for fear of being judged. "The coping mechanism and skills are on the decline. We also need to teach each other how to listen," said Sood.