Causes of Suicidal Behaviour in Adolescents as Perceived by College Students

Abstract

Suicide is the conscious act of self–induced annihilation, best understood as multi-dimensional malaise in a needful individual who defines an issue for which the suicide act is perceived as the best solution, (Scheidman, 1985). It is neither a private nor a personal act. There exists a varied difference in the range of suicide across different countries. WHO (2016), reported 793000 suicidal deaths worldwide. This shows that there is an annual global age-standardized suicide rate of 10.5 per 100000 populations. It is seen that this matter is very crucial and second upcoming cause of mortality among the young adults (15-29yrs) over the world. The present study explored how the young adults perceived the various causes of suicidal behavior in the adolescents. Apilot study was conducted on 20 young adults of age group between 23yrs to 25yrs of Bhopal city studying at collegiate level and was interviewed personally. The results revealed that majority of respondents attributed depression, parent’s pressure in context of their career and communication gap between them as the major causes of suicide in the adolescent population. Other causes, such as stress, social net-working, drug and physical abuse, childhood trauma, chronic pain, marital dispute and genetic factors were also reported. Thus, the mental health professionals need to plan strategies for curtailing suicide amongst the adolescents.