'Patriarchal society, depression triggering suicides among housewives'

AURANGABAD: India's patriarchal society as well as depression and mental health issues have contributed to the increasing suicidal tendencies among women, especially housewives, the

Maharashtra Association

for Resident Doctors' (

MARD

) has said.

The association said as per the reports of the

National Crime Records Bureau

(

NCRB

), the suicide rate among housewives was far more than that of farmers. Over 20,000 housewives committed suicide in 2014, it said.

The NCRB divides the total suicides into 10 professional categories - housewife, service (government), service (private), public sector undertaking, student, unemployed, self-employed (business activity), farming/agriculture activity, retired and others.

Sagar Mundada, president of MARD, said, "About 18% (20,412) of all the suicides reported in 2014 were by housewives as against 4.3% (5,650) by farmers, according to the NCRB report. Though there appears to be an overall decline in suicides by housewives, the data reveals festering problem in Indian marriages. This is an alarming data. There is a huge hue and cry about farmer suicides in the country, but housewives ending their lives has been completely neglected."

In the backdrop of National Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, Mundada said, "Family background, past psychiatric history, genetic conditions and immediate environment are significant factors. Issues such as marital dissatisfaction, torture for dowry, domestic violence and economic difficulties are only the triggers or, in medical terminology, stressors. While the occurrence of more stressors increases risk, their mere presence cannot cause suicide."

"A married woman plays multiple roles such as raising children, managing the kitchen and household expenses, keeping tabs on children's school performance, tending to in-laws and social obligations. If women choose to retaliate, they face the danger of shunned by their families, lose custody of children, be institutionalised and never resume normalcy," he said.

Appreciating the new mental health bill decriminalising suicide, MARD president said, "It will help in many ways. It will allow anyone who has attempted suicide to be treated immediately without the medico-legal process and also remove stigma."

"It will be affordable for the family as private hospitals often overcharge to treat such patients citing the legal process. The bill will also help collect data on those who attempt suicide and plan services for them. These cases are often under-reported or reported as accidents," he said.

Another city-based psychiatrist

Vijay Pande

said it is sad that housewife suicides were not discussed as compared with farmer suicides. "Housewives suicides aren't politically important. As a result, politicians and experts do not discuss the issue much," he said.