ALARMING INCREASE OF SUICIDES

1,35,585 suicides in India in 2010 according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. The ten-year period from 2001 to 2010 witnessed an alarming increase of 25 % in the number of suicides strangely in Kerala, the state with the highest literacy rate, the rate of suicide was 25.3 per one lakh population, which is more than twice that of the All India average. The reported reasons for suicides in 2010 were : family problems (24.3%) ,illness (19.6%) , failure in love  (3.4%), drug and other addiction  (2.7%) , dowry disputes (2.4%) , financial problems (2.2%) , poverty (1.7%), other causes (26.7%), and unknown factors (17.0%). A highly distressing feature is the growing incidence of suicides among adolescent boys and girls.

Suicide is the culmination of the existential conflict in a human being. It has been an universal phenomenon in all societies. The seeds of the self destructive act of suicide are usually sown during the early childhood. According to Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis theory, the messages that the growing person’s inner child received from parents and significant others translate into the growing person’s life script. The subsequent life experiences, interactions and relationships are crucial in the formation of personality of the individual. The famous French sociologist  Emile Durkheim’s book ‘Suicide’, published in 1897, is considered a sociological classic on suicide and the existing sociological theories are influenced by Durkheims’s work. Suicides, according to Durkheim, are of four types : fatalistic, altruistic, anomic and egoistic.

Studies of survivors of suicide attempts reveal that they wanted to survive having tried to kill themselves. Suicide prevention needs a multi-pronged approach. For instance, suicides by indebted farmers could be averted by sympathetic action from the government and lending agencies. The reasons of suicides in India mentioned earlier are only triggering factors. Ultimately, the capacity to cope with stress and problems in living would decide the course of action an individual might choose. Helplines, counseling centres, and support from various agencies will help prevent many suicides. Suicide prevention and mental health education should start from our schools.

BARBARIC PRACTICES IN TWENTY FIRST CENTURY : Chaining and Caning the Mentally ill

Traditional healers are almost unanimous in their “understanding (?)” of mental illness: possession of the person by evil spirits. So faith healers keep the mentally ill in fetters on the belief that the divine spirit would pass through the fetters and heal the person.  Exorcists beat the mentally ill with cane and this practice has the general acceptance of the families of the patients.

Eleven years ago (in August 2001), the nation was shocked when 28 mentally ill patients were charred to death in a faith-healing home in Erwadi in Tamilnadu. They were chained and hence could not escape when fire broke out. The Supreme Court took  up the matter suo motu, and gave notices to the central and state governments on the violations of human rights of the mentally ill. Subsequently, the governments issued orders regarding the proper maintenance of homes for the mentally sick. Yet ill-maintained institutions continue to function; and the mentally ill continue to be chained. Even the well-known Institute of Mental Health in Chennai functions more like a jail than a health centre about which reports appeared in the media in the recent past. The distinct mental health programme initiated by the government in some districts is reported to be far from successful.

An estimated 85 million persons (7%) in India suffer from some form of mental disorder ;  those suffering from serious mental illnesses constitute around 1 per cent of the population (nearly 12 million). Early detection and correct treatment would prevent the wastage of precious human resources. Ignorance and fear of social stigma discourage families from seeking timely psychiatric treatment. Mental health education and primary mental health services are to be the crucial components of the health care system. Movies and TV serials portray the mentally ill in an insensitive manner, contributing to greater social negativism. A society that neglects the mental health of its people will be doing so at its own peril.

PLANNING TO LET PEOPLE DIE

The Planning Commission has done it again after its highly controversial and insensitive fixation of the minimum amount needed for subsistence in rural and urban areas. This time it has hit public health. In its draft approach paper for the 12^th Plan, the commission recommends greater role for the private sector in healthcare, India’s healthcare system already is amongst the privatised health care systems in the world. Public expenditure on health in India was just 29.2% of the total spending on health in contrast to the global average of 62.8% according to the World Bank data for 2010.

Government of even developed nations like Canada and Norway bear most of the expenditure on public health. At the same time, abysmally low amount is spent on public health by the Indian State ; that is , just 1.2% of the GDP. Strangely, Planning Commission proposes 1.58% of the GDP towards government spending on health in the 12^th Plan and steadily increasing role for the private sector in health care, which is described as retrograde in an editorial of the New Indian Express. The majority of the Indian population goes to government hospitals for medical care. But nearly 75% of the medicines required for the patients are to be bought from the open market. Consequently, a large number of patients do not get adequate and timely treatment. Medicines in the market, which are often branded, are prohibitively expensive. Thus millions die of diseases which could be cured at the government hospitals  with medicines in sufficient stock. Surveys have shown that medical expenses are important causes of indebtedness of low income households in the country. To expect the private hospitals to be the major provider of health care in the Indian context is not planning but deception. The Planning Commission’s proposal  Bill add-to-more avoidable deaths in India.

MENTORS OR TORMENTORS ?

Mata (mother) , Pita (Father), Guru (Teacher) and Deva (God) ; the order of worship prescribed by the scriptures. Family and School are two basic social institutions that help shape  the personalities of children.  Teachers are expected to be the mentors  of the growing children. But today many schools and teachers give nightmares to the children and the parents. The traditionally known  sacred Guru-Shishya relationship has been replaced by the predator-prey like relationship in many schools. Sexual abuse , beating, forcing children to drink urine, forcibly cutting the hair of female students, discrimination in awarding marks, humiliation causing suicide, and other forms of cruelty are common practices resorted to by many teachers. In private schools there is an authority called correspondent, who, in most schools, is an autocrat, inaccessible even to the teachers. Parent-Teacher associations (PTAs) are often without any meaningful roles. Many parents are afraid to complain about the genuine grievances of their children for fear of victimization, Conformity is what the schools and the teachers expect , creativity of the young minds is a casualty in the present educational environment. A thorough restructuring is necessary to protect our precious children.

AGITATION IS EASY BUT SUSTAINING IS NOT EASY

The Indian nation is grateful to Anna Hazare for creating mass awareness on the cancer of corruption among all sections of people in the country. When the Indian Parliament passes in one voice a " sense of the house resolution" conceding the demands of Anna in August 2011, the country witnessed the finest moment of Anna Hazare's anti-graft agitation for a strong Lokpal. The groundswell of support from the people and the media had only some parallels in Indian history. But using abusive language against members of Parliament, demanding special investigation against the Prime Minister and some Union Ministers, going on periodic fasts and giving ultimatum to the democratically elected Government and such other acts are not laudable. Consequently there has been a slide in public support which was evident when Anna Hazare and team went on a fast in 2012 August. The agitation hit the dead end. The Government chose to be silent on the demands of Anna and his team, who, in turn, chose the political alternative. It was a face saver. On August 6, Anna abruptly disbanded his team and the apolitical crusade against corruption. The decision surprised his team and dismayed the thousands of committed young activists of the India Against Corruption movement. For a corruption- low( if not a corruption- free) India there must be a sustained action by a committed people’s pressure group. And many feel that Anna has dashed their aspirations. I am one among them. In filmy language “ Anna is a super flop” ( Ram Gopal Varma). Any how Anna Hazare cannot be written off social movements do not die. They emerge from time to time under some leadership. 

PENALTY OF IGNORANCE

Leucoderma or vitilgo is an autoimmune disorder of pigmentation. Black hair, skin colour, etc depend on the level of melanin content in the body. Melanin deficiency is the cause of the harmless, white patches of leucoderma. The patches may be confined to one place or may spread to many places. It is not at all infectious or contagious. Ignorance of this elementary fact keeps people away from the vitilgo- affected, many of whom withdraw into a shell for fear of ostracism. People refer to leucoderma as " white leprosy", which is a false belief.
Recently an engineering student with leucodermic patches was suspended from an University in Tamilnadu on the ground that many students were against his continuance.Adverse media publicity made the University to seek medical opinion and to reinstate the student . But can the University ever compensate this psychological damage caused to the innocent student? An educated couple in my neighbourhood-wife a teacher and husband an engineer - decided not to have conjugal relationship just after six years of love marriage ( my counselling failed) as white patches appeared on his body and started spreading. Now 18 years have elapsed without any change in attitude. What a penalty of ignorance?

MENTAL ILLNESS AND CRIMINALITY

Satnam Singh, a young person from Bihar, had a tragic end in God's Own Country. Reports suggest that he was a student of law and had been undergoing treatment for some mental ailment; he was also interested in spiritual reading. He was wandering to different places of worship before reaching Kerala. He was reported to have visited the Mata Amritanandamayee Ashram to have a " feel of the divine presence". His intention was suspected by the devotees. Though the mental condition of the frail young visitor was easily visible, the devotees preferred to hand over the hapless young man to the police. The spiritual heads of the Math appeared to have remained silent during the sequence of events. They could have extended him a hand of love which they are spreading globally. Ultimately the precious life of a young person was abruptly terminated under unnatural circumstances in the " due course of law". Some human consideration by the Ashram would have saved his life. A mentally ill person is equated with a criminal by our insensitive society including even the spiritual gurus. Gods are not always godly.