Daily Times

Suicide is on rise among Pakistani youth. Parents, academic institutes, public and private sector are not equipped to deal with mental health issues which lead to suicides. Depression and lockdown can add fuel to the fire.

According to a report of World Health Organization 2020 about 800,000 people die due to suicide every year in the world, which is one person every 40 seconds. Every suicide is a catastrophe that touches relations, peoples and entire countries and has enduring effects on the community left after. Suicide happens throughout the lifetime and was the next top cause of demise among 15-29 year-olds internationally in 2016. Suicide does not just occur in high-income countries, but is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world. In fact, over 79% of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2016.

In 2016, the ratio of suicide in Pakistan was 2.9 per 100,000 i.e. over 5,500 ruined their lives in Pakistan. Experts say the number of people committing suicide is more than this calculation. No such study was conducted after 2016 over the suicide rate in Pakistan.

Who is to be blamed for this suicidal quandary – socio-economic pressures, domestic pressures, competitive academic environment, social media, lack of career counselling, peer pressure, nepotism, weak family ties, professional rivalry, depression, dearth of mental health care or their own emotional mismanagement?

If we talk about solutions to suicidal problems among Pakistani youth, the role of parents is primary

The young females commit suicide mostly due to the domestic problems while in case of male these are socio-economic pressure which excites them for suicide.

Students commit suicide for not being able to score the marks, they or their parents anticipate .Some accomplished young men like doctors and CSS officers also commit suicide in Pakistan who are neither unsuccessful nor underprivileged, then what forces them to end their lives at the prime of their age and career?

This terrible trend is not only disturbing but also raises grave questions about the state of mental health of our youth. The suicidal inclinations among students in Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, have been reported broadly and are well recognized, governments in these countries take the issue of student suicides earnestly. Many non-government organizations work to support students to deal with stress related issues.

Situation in our country is entirely dissimilar. Suicides and mental health have never been taken seriously. Psychological therapy and counselling in schools remains a distant dream, parenting training is equally ignored. The first and foremost thing is to understand what causes a youngster to crush his or her life in the spring of youth.

Unfortunately our academic system is result oriented where an average student stands nowhere. Even for the parents the grades of their children are more important than the children’s effort and interest. This all is a very traumatic condition for our teenagers.

Most of the time it is the toxic family environment, lack of communication among family members which leads to suicidal disasters. People show the signs of disinterest and hopelessness but there is no one to smell these signs in an individual because they have less friends in real life than on social media.

If we talk about solutions to suicidal problems among Pakistani youth, the role of parents is primary. Parents should have a hawk eye on the activities of their children to check drug abuse which is closely linked to suicides. Parents should step into their children’s shoes to understand their concerns.

Students should not only be judged on the basis of their results but their individual interests, attributes and talents should also be promoted by academic institutes. There should be a friendly environment between teachers and students. Self-help books and emotional management should be the part and parcel of academic curriculum.

As an individual we need to be empathetic, so that we may not get involved into bullying and mocking someone consciously or unconsciously, because negative behavior becomes mental toll for some mentally sensitive people who can commit suicide by misjudging themselves as worthless.

Society should not rebuff the emotional growth of young people by using its so-called moral maxim, “hold on to your anger instead expressing it”. Because when these bottled up emotions do not get cathartic relief, become suicidal. There should be the trend of transmutation of negative emotions into physical activities like sports. The concept of traditional community centers should remain intact where people disburden their emotional cargo

It is the role of print and electronic media to spread awareness about mental health so that people may not feel shy to take mental health care. Mental health should be treated like physical health because after all the mind is also as much an organ of the body as heart, lungs and kidney which need cure in case of dysfunction. It will be a great public service on the part of the media.

The government must device unbiased social-economic plans to address poverty in Pakistan which is the main cause of suicide. Resource distribution for mental health should be appropriate and judiciously spent on mental health.

The customary low trend of suicide due to the influence of Islam appears to have suffered a fundamental change in Pakistan and suicide has grown into a major public health problem. There is a need for teamwork between government, non-governmental groups and public and mental health experts to take up this dare.

The writer is a CSS officer from 37th commons, working on emotional and social problems of youth worldwide