Student Suicides on the Rise in India

Dr Roma Kumar, senior consultant clinical psychologist at the Max Hospital, said "Suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents of 15-24 years of age. And the sixth leading cause among children of 5-14 years of age," as reported by TOI.

Roma added that "Suicidal people tend to be severely depressed. At the same time unable to recognize their symptoms. More importantly, people around them are unable to recognize their symptoms, too." “Stress and depression are common, but some have lower threshold levels and are driven to extremes by their despair.”

Another report revealed Jamshedpur had a high rate of suicide too. If the annual suicide rate of students is 5 to 6 percent, Jamshedpur is four times ahead of the national average.

A noted psychiatric from Jamshedpur, A N Mishra, said high expectations from children is one of the major causes behind the alarming suicide rates. He said "Until and unless parents take time out for their wards and help assist them in their formative years I am afraid things will not improve," as reported by TOI.

Sanjay Agarwal, head, psychiatric department, Tata Main Hospital said "Along with physical growth hormonal changes take place in teenagers and this period is very crucial in terms of relationships. Parents need to connect with their wards with utmost care to prevent them from resorting to impulsive acts on unimportant issues."