Recently, a 25-year-old an MBBS graduate from Hyderabad was saved from her attempt to suicide by reaching to the Tele-MANAS helpline.
What is suicide?
Suicide – The act or an instance of ending one's own life voluntarily and intentionally.
Reasons – The reasons for suicide are multi-faceted, influenced by social, cultural, biological, psychological, and environmental factors present across the life-course.
Complex issue – Suicide is not only a mental health issue but is also deeply rooted in social determinants such as poverty, discrimination, gender inequity, and isolation.
What are the challenges in the system?
Shortage of trained mental health professionals – Estimates indicate that India has 0.75 psychiatrists per 1,00,000 population.
It is dismally lower than the World Health Organization’s recommended 3 per 1,00,000 population.
Shortage of clinical psychologists and psychiatric nurses – there is a lack of more clinical psychologists who can be trained to offer therapy, help people manage their thoughts better and improve their general sense of well-being.
For instance, in Kerala, this shortage is a huge problem in the mental health sector.
Inadequate resources – Most helplines today struggle with inadequate resources, limited operating hours, and insufficiently trained counsellors.
Inaccessible and expensive – The stigma around mental health has reduced in India, but only superficially while Help is still inaccessible and expensive.
For instance, in Kolkata many working professionals with depression are not being able to reach a professional at a moment of crisis.
What are the measures taken by the States?
Community efforts – Broader community participation have been trialled in some States, often linking existing or new services to the Tele MANAS helpline, to stem suicide numbers.
For instance, in Karnataka, where the suicide rate stands at 20.2 per lakh population as of 2022, significantly higher than the national average of 12.4, several initiatives have been tried.
Karnataka – SURAKSHA project under N-SPRITE a comprehensive community-based suicide prevention model in partnership between NIMHANS, the government of Karnataka, and a corporate.
Kerala – Jeevanraksha, a district-level service has community gatekeepers stepping in to prevent suicides.
Trained people are given periodic refresher training to recognise warning signs of suicide, give psychological first aid and refer people to mental health professionals.
Kerala also has two other community-level mental health programmes, one of which specifically tackles post-partum depression.
Tamil Nadu – TeleMANAS also collaborates with the helplines of the School Education and Social Welfare Departments.
District Mental Health Programme and it has improved accessibility and helped reduce stigma around accessing mental health care.
What lies ahead?
Understanding the issue – We must acknowledge that suicide is not only a mental health issue but also deeply rooted in social determinants such as poverty, discrimination, gender inequity, and isolation.
Decoding the cause – Addressing systemic drivers of distress must be undertaken.
Timely interventions – Suicide prevention must include building an ecosystem of empathy, inclusion, and timely care.
For instance, with over 1.7 lakh lives lost to suicide in 2022 and 1.8 million calls to the Tele-MANAS helpline as of February 2025, thousands of Indians need mental health help.
Increasing funding – Increased government funding for awareness and trained human resources.
Social and community participation – Building strong school and college-level mental health programmes, addressing social determinants.
Combating stigma are some steps that need to be urgently undertaken.
Those in distress could seek help and counselling by clicking here.
