Depression, major cause of suicides

​Hyderabad: Depression is a prevailing issue which is considered a taboo in the society. Many people, especially youngsters, even today refuse to talk about the suffering they are going through despite many organisations and NGOs lending a voice of help.

Suicides are noted as the second leading cause of deaths between the age group 15 and 29 in the world. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are around eight lakh people who commit suicide every year across the globe due to depression.

In Hyderabad alone, 811 suicide cases have been reported since 2016. “Depression is a major issue amongst children, which is mostly unidentified by the parents.

According to a report, by 2030 depression will be the leading cause of death surpassing heart disease and cancer. Majority of the children, tend to do dangerous things below the age of 18 and they mostly end up hurting themselves.

Opting for drugs, self-harm and suicide games seems to be a diversion for them from their ‘not-so-interesting life’,” said Namita Singh, Neuro psychologist at Apollo. Mamata Trivedi, winner of Mrs India 2017, said, “Due to a family member’s terminal illness, my brother-in-law also suffered from mental health issue.

One day, he suddenly went into a panic attack and started biting his own hand, we immediately took him to the hospital. If we were not attentive to these symptoms this could have lead to depression.”

Speaking about depression and its relevance to suicides, Malathi Raj, Director of Roshni Counselling Centre said, “When a person is depressed he/she loss hope on life and suddenly believe that their life holds no value.

They constantly feel sad, lethargic and cry for no particular reason. If depression is not treated in time there is a high risk of that person committing suicide.

Family and friends should be attentive to symptoms like sleeping disorder, appetite loss or excessive eating and not socialising.