Shillong, Sept 11: Along with the rest of the country, the state also observed the World Suicide Prevention day with the theme “Stigma: A major barrier to Suicide Prevention” held at Holy Cross Brookdene Hall, Shillong.
During the program many experts shared their views on how to prevent somebody from attempting to suicide on timely intervention as any person with suicidal tendency can be easily convinced through dialogue and timely counseling
Addressing the gathering, Director of San-ker Dr Syiem said that the number of suicide cases in the country is alarming while in case of Northeastern region the reporting of such cases is very low and there is a need to create awareness.
“Suicidal tendency is a mental illness. It can be prevented through timely intervention. Any person with the tendency can be easily identified. Now a days many communicate through social networking site or share it with friends and relatives that they are in emotional turmoil,” Syiem said.
Additional Director General of Police (CID), SK Jain informed that in Meghalaya the suicide cases have reached 80 per cent and the age groups of those persons ranges from 15 to 44 years.
The experts said that suicide is a multi-determined phenomenon that occurs against a background of complex interacting biological, social, psychological and environmental risk and protective factors. On average, almost 3000 people commit suicide daily.
The experts also emphasized on the need of awareness on the part of the government to develop policy frameworks for national suicide prevention strategies and at the local level, policy statements and research outcomes need to be translated into prevention programs and activities in communities. (SP News)
