Increasing Suicidal Tendency In Indian Youth

Winning Spirits May Lead to Self Destruction and Lose on Life If Not Guided

I have always considered sports, music and other outdoor activities great stress busters and strongly supported their necessity in the curriculum of school education. Sports play vital role in a student’s life and help children develop physical and mental health and teach them all the essential life skills and make an integral part of children's education. Above all sports teach us the value of losing also; playing sports is all about fair play and giving our best no matter whether we win or lose the game. The best lesson games teach us is accepting defeat in a positive competitive spirit.

However, the recent tragic suicide by Ritika Phogat , a young aspiring wrestler and cousin of the ace Indian women wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat, left us all shocked and perplexed about our ideology of believing sports as strengthening and building higher level of self-belief and stronger mental and emotional stability.

We have always blamed parents’ expectations, pressure of study and academic achievements for the increasing suicides among youth but this incident compelled us to think and rationalize our approach with these questions- “Were these notions either a fallacy, half-truth or the obsession of proving oneself always a winner leads towards higher susceptibility to succumb to one’s own ambitions and unfulfilled desires?” In India 28 students commit suicide every day that means a young mind decides and executes self-destruction every 51 minutes and tragically the numbers are increasing every year at a higher rate. It is believed that suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-old. The shocking revelation by the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that 10,159 students died by suicide in 2018 with an increase from 9,905 in 2017 and 9,478 in 2016. Is it right to consider the pressure of study as the only factor responsible for killing hundreds of innocent lives across the country? Do we ever think about the fragility of emotions a child is vulnerable to? Do we ever realize how constantly these young minds are facing rejections at every level in their lives? Do we really take care if young ones set higher benchmarks for themselves and plunge into the hardships of attaining those unattainable goals?

Interesting Reading: Never-To-Advise-Adolescents 

There’s a strong and intense dreamer in all of us and we strive hard to realize these dreams but many a times youngsters fail to evaluate their potential and set high standards of goals and expectations for themselves; adding fuel to the fire parents and mentors keep pushing them to make relentless efforts to achieve them. Please don’t confuse my words by considering these higher goals only in academics; these can be related to any other arena, surprisingly it can be a Pursuit Of Perfection to become the best in siblings, friends or even being the best human also. Once we start training a child’s mind to become an achiever, a winner and a star performer; he starts visualizing himself to be one among the crowd and feels as if everyone’s eyes are on him. Under this constant imaginary scrutiny by his thoughts and to satiate the unquenchable thirst of proving him the best, becoming a super hero, he is drifted towards self-doubt and anxiety which is a very serious emotional damage for a young mind. Shockingly; sometimes minor or meaningless things as not getting enough ‘Likes’ on a social media post, or losing an online battle game can push the teenager into the chasm of suicidal thoughts.

Young people with mental health problems are always at high risk of committing suicide. Parents, elders and friends should be alert if they observe feelings of distress, irritability or agitation as most of the times suicide isn’t an impulsive action; it can be result of a prolonged hopelessness, worthlessness along with loneliness. Sometimes adults feel that if children say they are going to kill or will hurt themselves, it’s just for the sake of seeking attention. Here the art of parenting plays a crucial role in protecting a precious life. It’s very important to realize that their young one is ignored or wants to convey something so try to delve deep into his/her mind and keep the lines of communication open and express your concern, support and love. Never minimize or ignore what your teen is going through, read the body language and treat in consolable way otherwise the sense of hopelessness and accepting themselves as ‘good for nothing’ will be ingrained in their minds.

Blog EduEmeRalds urges to all the youngsters -

“Life doesn’t always celebrate the winners; the world is equally beautiful and blossoming with multitudes of losers as they are greater learners and innovators.”

The irrevocable loss of a budding, talented wrestler teaches us a lesson about our education and value system which focuses only on material gains and none wants to talk about mental health, emotional balance and life skills. The harsh realities of the outer world, being alone in a huge crowd and the obsession of taking every bit to take it a notch higher, teenager’s free spirits and growth get obstructed impinging on their psychological and emotional efficiency to fight back the stress and pain of losing or rejection in life. Such situations worsen and become unbearably intensified due to emotional and psychic claustrophobia of loneliness. While suffering this despairing sense of isolation, feeling unable to speak up what they are going through and trapped within their solitude they accept their existence as meaningless and futile.    How painful is it to think: What forced them to take such an extreme step? What loss would have been as big as life itself? What kind of battle they must have been grappling with that they find it easier to kill themselves than to survive and combat?

“I wish … we could ever get the answers.”