BENGALURU: India, which has the second largest population, with a majority of them in their prime, has unfortunately witnessed the highest number of suicides among young people. Women and youth are among the largest groups of victims.
Tech city Bengaluru is no different, with suicidal tendencies increasing among techies, which has become a cause for concern. According to psychiatrists, most of the techies who are under 30 years of age, are committing suicide for various reasons.
The reasons for committing suicide are mainly depression, sensitive nature, work pressure, being terminated from jobs, domestic problems and family issues.
Techies’ suicidal cases:
- A depressed woman techie in Basaveshwara Nagar committed suicide at home after her husband commented about her cooking.
- In the another incident, a 30-year-old man killed his two-year-old daughter by drowning at Kendatti river and committed suicide in Kolar.
- A 23-year-old man committed suicide in October over alleged torture by an agent in Tamil Nadu.
- A woman techie committed on suicide due to husband’s harassment. They had fallen in love and got married four years ago.
- Another woman techie committed suicide by jumping off the 9th floor of her apartment complex in October due to family disputes. A case was registered at Varthur police station.
Major reasons for suicides among techies:
- They are mentally not prepared to solve their problems.
- Unhealthy competition and they do not know how to deal with failure.
- Job stress
- Problem in coping with married life
- Experiencing severe financial distress
- Debt
- Violence — Women are the victims
- Unemployment
- Suffering from physical ailments.
- Love failure, loneliness
- Cheated by someone trustworthy and humiliation
Dr Sridhar, psychiatrist opines that, “If anyone decides to end their life, then they will commit suicide at any time. There may unhealthy competition at educational institutions and excessive stress to perform at school level. Parents and teachers should understand the mindset of students who are suffering from depression. An individual needs to consult some medical health experts rather than looking up for help online or some call centre”.
Further, he said, “These days, some sections of people are fuelling anger, anxiety, outrage and violence in the name of culture in young minds. As result of this, unnatural feelings and inferiority complex can develop among some people. If someone is suffering from depression, they should consult experts and speak out about their issues with others before taking any extreme step”.
“Today, advancement in technology is affecting people. Technology is controlling individuals. The economic status is also influencing them”, he added.
“There are many types in suicidal tendencies. Majorly, these can be classified as impulsive and pre-meditated. According to the World Health Organisation report, every 40 seconds, some person commits suicide somewhere. Impulsive suicides can be prevented if they express their pain or sorrows with others at the crucial period”, said Dr Askhata Gowda, another psychiatrist in the city.