Need For Suicide Prevention Program for Students

Associate Professor Department of Education, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat

Corresponding Author: Kirti Matliwala, Associate Professor Department of Education, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, Tel: +91 (0261) 2227141;  E-Mail: [email protected] Received Date: 07 Mar 2017    Accepted Date: 14 Mar 2017    Published Date: 16 Mar 2017   

Copyright © 2017 Matliwala K

Citation: Matliwala K. (2017). Need For Suicide Prevention Program for Students. Mathews J Psychiatry Ment Health. 2(1): 012.

ABSTRACT Life becomes more challenging so we have to develop more strength to deal with the ever changing situation. College students have their career dreams during their study time and their emotional attachment is also going on. They have to be balanced but anyhow they cannot cope up with the situation and try to attempt suicide. Psychological Guidance and Counseling Center, VNSGU had arranged suicide prevention program for postgraduate students. It is 3-hour time duration program, which covers depression symptoms, its causes, stress and its result, suicide and its signals. The main objective of the study was to know about the effectiveness of suicide prevention program on postgraduate students. Tools were a personal interview and group discussion and data analysis were done by qualitative analysis. The student said that rather than giving a lecture, the skit was a better method to convey the message more effectively. They said the whole program was helpful for them to understand the value of one's life. Some topics suggested by students for furthermore programs are women empowerment, positive thoughts, self-confidence, successful person's autobiography, cybercrime, self-esteem, reading habit, self-motivation.

INTRODUCTION Suicide is the most dangerous problem that is rising day by day. It is that nightmare which cannot be expressed through words. Suicide is a subject that is not talked about often. Suicide does not only affect adults, but it affects teenagers as well [1]. Some people's situation put them in a more likely position to commit suicide. One of the most important causes of suicide is pressure, people face a different kind of pressure in their lives. Such as peer pressure, work pressure, family pressure. This pressure has become a routine of lifestyle. There are some people who cannot adjust with this pressure and their ability to face challenges collapse. In today's scenario high occupational mobility, high ambition and desire for high standard of living is leading to high incidence of suicidal deaths.(www.medind.nic.in) Basically, nowadays people are facing problems with their tolerance power (Fragile EGO) this is the major reason why suicide is becoming common in this generation.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of suicide is “the intentional taking of one’s own life” (“Suicide”). While suicide is a fairly common occurrence and has been happening for many years, people are still reluctant to talk about or deal with it. Doctor Smith states in his article, “Still, the social conspiracy of silence on suicide is very much alive and thriving. No subject is more misunderstood, even today, then suicide. It remains one of the last taboos” [2]. The first step to dealing with suicide is to understand it and be willing to deal with it by taking action The National Institute for Mental Health indicates that in 2007, per 100,000 people, suicide deaths account for .9 children between the ages of 10 and 14, 6.9 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19, and 12.7 young adults between the ages of 20 and 24. According to the latest Wikipedia’s article on suicide in India about 800000 people commit suicide worldwide every year, of these 135,000 (17%) are the residents of India (www. en.wikipedia.org). According to Daily News and Analyses article 13,655 suicides were reported in Gujarat in three years and average of 12 every single day. In Surat, there are 1,046 suicide cases. Mostly 15-29 is the age group that commits suicide. Ahmedabad rural registered 503 suicides from May 2010 to April 2013. However, the number was sharply lower compared to Rajkot rural and Jamnagar, which recorded as many as 1,200 suicides each in the same period (www.dnaindia.com).. Data shows that youth is the only group who need to understand the value of suicide prevention. According to [3]. Depression education in schools might be effective in decreasing the morbidity, mortality, and stigma associated with adolescent depression. The only reason for increasing suicide numbers in this age group is a conflict between early teenage and adolescent age. During this period people face tons of changes in their lives. Whether it is psychical, mental or emotional changes it makes their lives hundred times difficult. During teenage person's expectations and goals were different than today's life. Normally this change of lifestyle and expectations clashes with society's expectations towards us. This drastic change is a major reason for suicide. Thus, these are the areas when suicide preventions are needed. There was some evidence that previous attempters were more upset by the programs than their non-attempter peers [4]. We cannot predict whether this person will commit suicide or not. We cannot teach someone how to live but we can defiantly teach how to stop dying every day it comes from individual understanding. For that understanding, we have to grow a generation where suicide becomes rare. Because this 15-29 age group will probably don’t have time to put their efforts in preventing suicide when they will become parents. So it’s never too late to start a new movement. Let’s make our dream come true let’s create a suicide less generation.

OBJECTIVE The main objective of the study was to know about the effectiveness of suicide prevention program on postgraduate students. Suicide prevention program covers following points 1. First, you need to identify whether the person is really going through depression in his/her life? 2. You can identify by some of the signs. A person who is suffering from depression may show some signs that indicate that he is thinking about attempting suicide. Suicidal thoughts or actions are a sign of extreme distress, not a harmless bid for attention, and should not be ignored (www.nimh.nih.gov) [5-8].  3. Listen: it may be possible that because of loneliness or lack of family support that person cannot express his frustration to anyone. In such situation, your simple conversation can help that person to rethink about his decision.  4. Never keep risky things or unhealthy substitutes around a person with suicidal tendency.  5. There is one simple way to help these people is contact that person's family members. Let them know about the whole situation of what that person is going through. It may happen that family support can save him from falling down.

Research methodology • Research method - Experiment and survey method  • Program - Suicide prevention program was designed which includes depression symptoms, its causes, stress and its result, suicide and its signals.  • Time - 3 hours  • Sample - 250 students of undergraduate from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. They were selected by convenient sampling method.  • Tools - Personal interview and group discussion  • Data analysis - Qualitative analysis

FINDINGS Review of students on suicide prevention program On 10th January 2017 Psychological Guidance and Counseling Center, VNSGU had arranged suicide prevention program. Following are reviews of students on this program.  • The student said that rather than giving a lecture, the skit was a better method to convey the message more effectively. They said the whole program was helpful for them to understand the value of one's life. It is helpful to prepare others and our own selves for such situation like depression and anxiety attacks.  • Students also felt that they need updated data which helps to understand the current situation and the value of human's life. They also felt that there should be enough scope for interaction session with an expert to clear their doubt about depression and suicide.  • Some topics suggested by students for furthermore programs:  • Women empowerment, positive thoughts, self-confidence, successful person's autobiography, cybercrime, self-esteem, reading habit, self-motivation  • In a personal interview, students gave following responses.  1) They said that counseling can be helpful for an individual person to get out of their issues and lead a normal life. 2) Detail question - answer session is a good method for people who want to express their inner thoughts and feelings. Students want to know how they can develop their personality in a positive way. They need one-week duration program which includes activities that teach them how can they deal with depression?  3) They got an understanding about diverting mind in some different activity can be helpful in avoiding the depressive situation. They suggested some methods like animation clips and short videos on motivation can be shown to students on regular basis.  4) They also suggested that these programs will be very helpful in schools so that parents can understand the problems of their children's life and they can help their child with full support.  5) They said that we all should learn an approach to listening other's feelings. They suggested that we can arrange a mono acting session for students where students will be encouraged to perform on the topics like knowing your emotions, overcome your fear, and self-talk. This activity becomes catharsis for them. Outdoor sessions can be done to make seminar more effective.

CONCLUSIONS Research finding suggests that students want motivational talk and some long duration program for their development. They are much concerned about their emotions. Suicide prevention program helps them to make unable for self-understanding as well others. They get knowledge about depression and anxiety and get an idea about how to deal with such type of situation. to prevent students from suicidal attempt this type of program becomes useful, every educational institute should arrange such type of program to make aware their students about depression, anxiety, and suicide.

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