seven commited suicide

KATHMANDU, Nov 18 - Data compiled by police shows that a staggering number of people commit suicide in Nepal, and the number is rising.
According to police records, every day on average seven people committed suicide across the country during last fiscal year. A total of 2,566 people committed suicide last fiscal year, up from 2,029 in the previous year. During the last three months alone, 659 people committed suicide across the country.
Given the social stigma that a suicide brings to the family, the actual suicide figures could be higher. It's mostly youths who take their own lives. Most of them hang themselves, others take poison, jump from high cliffs or shoot themselves.
Approximately 10 million people across the globe, according to the World Health Organization, try to commit suicide while one million people succeed in their attempt.
Dr Saroj Ojha, senior psychiatrist at TU Teaching Hospital, said that suicide is not an isolated incident and it happens mainly due to mental sickness. "Those who suffer from mental illness for a long period are most venerable to suicide," he says.
The reasons that lead to suicide, however, differ. According to Dr Ojha, over 70 percent of suicide cases are due to chronic depression and mental disease. Among other factors, family environment, social stress, poor performance in exams, alcohol, drug- dependency, impulsive acts and break up in love affairs among youths may prompt the extreme step. Physiatrists also blame unemployment and pressures from family and society to meet growing demands, for the rising number of suicides.
"Finding it difficult to cope with these pressures, people choose that way out. With medical counseling, treatment and family support, these social and mental stresses can be curtailed and many lives saved," Dr Ojha says.
These days, even Maoist cadres who waged a decade-long insurgency in the country, are among the ones committing suicide. "It's an extreme step which mainly occurs among those who fail to handle difficulties and sudden changes in life," Dr Ojha adds.
In the country as a whole, suicide has become one of the common causes of death among the young and adolescent.
Suicide should be taken as a disease. Due to lack of counseling, low priority for mental health from the government and other stakeholders and low coverage by media, the suicide rate is rising, says the doctor. "Even psychiatric counseling is taken as a social stigma, and this is something that should be changed."
Furthermore, Dr Ojha says, "In order to address this growing cause of death, the government should immediately bring in a Mental Health Act through the cabinet...."