Odisha records 3 suicides a day in Apr-Oct 2019, Married men toll high!

Bhubaneswar: Suicides are killing at least 3 people every day in Odisha. And married men bear the brunt more than their bachelor counterparts in the State.

As per the data available with the State health department, as many as 709 teens & adults have taken this extreme step in the State in April - October 2019. The most discernible observation is a massive 92 per cent of such suicides have been reported from rural Odisha, which tells a bigger tale.

When families world over are considered as a cohesive unit that give emotional support, data with State police over the reasons behind suicides over the years in Odisha breaks this myth.

It is the family problems that have emerged as the single-most important factor behind individuals taking this extreme step in the State. And men in the State bore the brunt.

If the data is to be believed, married men alone account for nearly one-fourth of total suicides in the State, whereas the share of bachelors stood at around 14-15 per cent over the period of 2013-18.

In contrast, suicides by married women stood at around 19-20 per cent and that of spinsters (unmarried women) at around 10-11 per cent.

A glance at the data further  shows nearly two in every five suicides by married men were attributed to the single reason of family problems.

Significantly, the data from 2013-18 shows on an average more men in the State have committed suicide owing to extra-marital affairs and suspected illicit relationship than women.

Also, the fact that over 11 per cent of total suicides by men were due to one or some kind of critical illness against mere 6 per cent by women shows how men are more vulnerable than women in succumbing to pressure. Why men wilt down?

Why an individual takes this extreme step? Two international studies explain the causes. They say pervasive sense of 'hopelessness' and 'psychological pain' are the two key motivators that drive people to suicides. The studies further infer that men may have higher threshold of 'psychological pain' that counter-intuitively leads to greater risk of suicides in volcano-like fashion.