Suicide cases rise by 7.91% in state
In an alarming situation, the number of suicide cases in Himachal Pradesh has risen by 7.91 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022. This has been revealed in the 15th edition of Himachal Pradesh, "Crime Review" for the year 2023, published by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), CID.
The SCRB publishes the annual "Crime Review" report each year containing an exhaustive set of crime statistics for the particular year, making it available to the general public on the HP Police website.
As per the report, in 2023, the state witnessed 818 suicide cases as compared to 754 cases in 2022. The report also revealed that the suicide rate is higher in males as compared to females. In 2023, total 547 male victims had died by suicide, while about 271 victims were females. The highest number of suicide cases have been reported in Kangra, followed by Mandi, Shimla, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts. Family and marriage related problems, professional issues and illness have emerged as the major cause behind these cases.
The head of Psychiatry Department at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Dr Dinesh Sharma, said depression is the major cause behind suicide cases.
Throwing light on the psychology of a person who commits suicide or experience suicidal thoughts, he said the most common trait of such people is that they tend to isolate them from others. “There behaviour becomes gloomy as they tend to talk about life in a vague manner, for example, they might say that there is nothing worth to live for or life is meaningless, etc. Another sign is they tend to post such images or quotes or they start to complete some tasks like writing their will, etc,” he said.
In order to prevent any person from committing suicide, he suggested timely action on the part of close relatives of the victim. He suggested that any person experiencing suicidal thoughts should not shy away from seeking help and should immediately seek counselling or share thoughts with their loved ones.
