Emotional hurt makes students most suicidal

At least 532 school, college, and university students took their own lives last year, with emotional hurt being responsible for 27.36 per cent of the cases among school and college students, says a study.

Of the total victims, 340 were school students, 106 were college students, and 85 were university students. The overall statistics of suicide cases also included 54 madrasah students.

Aachol Foundation, an organisation working on students’ mental health, revealed the findings of the study titled “Suicidal tendency among students: Which way to look for the solution?” at an online press briefing on Friday.

The study said suicide is the name of a silent parasite in society and it is gripping the youth in its lethal tentacles with every passing day.

It said 60.15 per cent of the total victims were girls and 39.85 per cent were boys. Among school students, 63.90 per cent were girls and 36.1 per cent were boys while among college students, 59.44 per cent were girls and 40.56 per cent were boys.

Dhaka division accounts for the highest number of school and college students committing suicides, which is 23.77 per cent. It is followed by Chattogram (17.27 per cent), Rajshahi (16.81 per cent), Khulna (14.13 per cent), Rangpur (8.74 per cent), Barishal (8.53 per cent), Mymensingh (6.27 per cent), and Sylhet (4.48 per cent).

Most victims (76.12 per cent) were between 13 and 19 years old while 8.08 per cent were aged between 7 and 12.

Clinical psychologist Shahrina Ferdous, who spoke at the briefing, said the survey report shows there is a high tendency of suicide among teenagers.

There is no alternative to creating awareness of adolescent mental health care to prevent suicide, she said. “I observed among my patients that Covid-19 had a big impact on teenagers, and they need more time to overcome that.”

She also said there is a need to raise awareness of children’s mental health care.

“Children need to play. Family bonding should be strengthened while parents should spend more quality time with children to prevent the latter from getting addicted to screen. This is also needed to help children build self-confidence before they enter adulthood.”

The study found school and college students committing suicides faced various issues in their lives that compelled them to choose the path of self-destruction. Apart from 27.36 per cent of the students committing suicides for being emotionally hurt, 23.32 per cent killed themselves for love affairs, 3.14 per cent for family conflicts, 2.01 per cent for depression, 1.79 per cent for psychological problems, 1.79 per cent for financial problems, 1.79 per cent for harassments, and 1.34 per cent for rape or sexual harassments.

There were several other reasons. For example, four victims’ offensive pictures were spread on Facebook, six were insulted by teachers, and seven were not allowed to play. Besides, 27 students killed themselves for failing in exams while 10 committed suicides as their parents did not buy them mobile phones.

Samira Akter Siyam, general secretary of Aachol Foundation, said children from an early age should be taught how to take care of their mental health and also control their emotions. “Families as well as social institutions should teach this.”

She said it is very important for parents and family members to play an active role in preventing children from developing suicidal tendencies.

Recommendations to prevent suicide

Aachol Foundation recommended increasing the scope of sports and cultural activities, noting these keep students away from depression, loneliness, and negative thoughts.

It recommended launching parenting activities to improve children’s mental growth and help parents develop a better understanding with children by listening to them. This will play a constructive role in suicide prevention by handling children’s emotional intelligence and balance, the foundation said.

It said students should be taught techniques to control their feelings. Besides, in the family, society, and educational institutions, students should be listened to with empathy rather than being judgmental.

According to the foundation, it should be made legal to investigate families for their involvement in children’s suicides considering their increasing culpability. This is because more than 6 per cent of the students committing suicides choose this path due to various incidents related to families, including disputes.

According to the study, more than 3 per cent of the students committed suicides due to financial constraints regarding obtaining education. It is possible to solve the financial problems of students to a great extent by accelerating and properly managing the school-college student welfare fund.

The organisation also recommended conducting special campaigns emphasising the punishment for the violation of personal privacy, cybercrime, and publishing secret pictures and videos.

Another recommendation was to teach teachers techniques to detect suicidal tendencies among students in schools and colleges. Besides, psychological first aid branches should be opened in educational institutions; increasing students’ engagement with families, society, and social institutions should be emphasised; and clinical facilities should be made available for efficient mental health care.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, about 13,000 people commit suicides every year. As part of various measures taken by the government to ensure citizens’ mental health care, the Mental Health Act 2018 was passed.

The government has also published the National Mental Health Policy 2022 gazette. There are plans afoot to appoint a mental health counsellor to each educational institution in every district as well.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says suicide is the 17th leading cause of death worldwide. However, it is the fourth leading cause of death among those aged between 15 and 19. A person chooses to commit suicide every 40 seconds. Although poverty is not directly linked to suicide, it does increase the risk.

A WHO report said 77 per cent of the world’s suicides each year occur in low- to middle-income countries.