Punjab most prone to suicides due to illness

BATHINDA: Punjab has earned the ignominy of ranking at the top in India when it comes to number of suicides due to illness. Out of total 1,714 suicides in Punjab in 2018, 42.1% or 722 persons ended life due to illness. In 2018, 1,355 men, 358 women and one transgender committed suicide in Punjab.
In 2017, Punjab was at second spot with 31.7% or 469 persons committing suicide due to illness, out of total 1,481 suicides cases. Sikkim was at the top in 2017. The national average of suicides due to illness was much lower and showed a declining trend with 18.5% in 2017, and 17.7% in 2018.
On the upside, the suicides cases in Punjab in 2018, made up mere 1.3% of total cases in the country. Going by the data of suicides due to illness, the experts reasoned that Punjab needed to refurbish its flagship programme of ‘Tandrust Punjab’.
If one looks at suicides cases as percentage of total deaths, Punjab recorded 5% deaths due to suicides out of the total deaths in 2017. The figure for 2018 was slightly up at 5.8% but still well below the national averages of 9.9 and 10.2% for the two years.
What’s more, while the state might have earned the epithet of ‘Udta Punjab’, it recorded 55 suicides due to drug abuse/alcoholic addiction in 2018, much less than neighbouring Haryana which recorded 137 such suicides, including one female.
The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) released the data about suicides in India for 2017 and 2018 on Thursday. As per the data, 1,29,887 persons committed suicide in India in 2017, which was 9.9% of total deaths in the country. In 2018, 1,34,516 persons committed suicide, which is 10.2% of total deaths in the country.
In the entire country, family problem remained the biggest reason for committing suicide as in 2017 at 30.1% and 30.4% in 2018. In Chandigarh too, family problem remained biggest reason for committing suicides as it topped in the country in 2017 with 73 such suicide cases, which accounted for 64.6% of total suicides. In 2018, it slipped to 4th spot with 84 suicides due to family problem, or 52.5% of total suicides.
When it comes to mode of suicide, nearly half the suicides were committed by hanging, followed by consuming poison in the country. In 2017, 49.8% suicides were committed by hanging, 27.5% by consuming poisonous substance, 5.3% by fire or self immolation and 4.8% by drowning. In 2018, 51.5% suicides were committed by hanging, 26.7% by consuming poisonous substance, 4.9% by drowning and 4.4% by fire or self immolation.