Every 9 hours, a life lost to mental illness in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Telangana is witnessing a worrying rise in suicides linked to mental illness, with the latest NCRB 2024 data showing that nearly two people die by suicide every day in the state due to mental healthrelated causes — roughly one death every nine hours.The state recorded 951 suicides linked to mental illness, including 573 men, 377 women, and one transgender person. Telangana reported a suicide rate of 28.6% linked to mental health causes, making it the fifth highest in the country and far above the national average of 12.2%. Despite accounting for a relatively smaller share of India’s population, Telangana contributed nearly 6.6% of all mental illness-related suicides reported nationwide.Among states, Karnataka topped the list with 2,465 such deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh (1,598), Tamil Nadu (1,276), Maharashtra (1,092), and Telangana (951).A notable concern in Telangana’s data is the high proportion of women among the victims. Women accounted for nearly 39.6% of mental illnesslinked suicides in the state, considerably higher than the national trend. Across India, women accounted for 4,328 of the 14,305 such suicides — around 30.2%.Mental health experts said suicides are often the result of long-term emotional distress rather than a single triggering event. Academic pressure, relationship conflicts, loneliness, unemployment, financial stress, and lack of emotional support were identified as some of the major contributing factors.Dr Jawaharlal Nehru P, senior psychologist at Tele-MANAS, said students pursuing professional courses such as engineering, medicine, and MBA programmes often struggle with emotional isolation while staying away from home. “Many hesitate to discuss their emotions openly because of fear of judgment, which gradually pushes them into loneliness,” he said.Recalling a recent case, the psychologist spoke about a 35year-old MBA graduate and former HR professional who slipped into depression after leaving her job and failing to secure employment again. “She said her husband repeatedly called her useless and that she had been experiencing suicidal thoughts for nearly 12 days,” he said, adding that counselling and emotional support helped stabilise her condition.Experts stressed that emotional acceptance, timely counselling, and supportive conversations can play a crucial role in recovery. “People believe they must handle everything alone, but emotional pain also needs support and healing,” said Dr Vivaswan Boorla, senior govt psychiatrist.