Opinion | Family, Job, Discrimination: What's Driving Indian Youth To Suicide?

Lately, suicides among students have captured the news cycle and the public's attention. Kota, India's infamous 'coaching hub' is at the centre of this fixation. Stories about the tragic deaths by suicide among young students and policy measures to identify and support students who exhibit signs of suicide risk have become commonplace.

Last month, a report underscored the growing concern. The number of suicides among students saw a drastic rise of 21% between 2019 and 2020, and, more recently, 4.5% from 2020 to 2021. The data paints a grim picture that extends beyond Kota and its intense coaching culture.

An Unprecedented Spike

India's suicide rate has been growing at an unprecedented rate - one that was not seen earlier, in the last six decades since data was collected. In 2022, the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) reported 1.71 lakh deaths by suicide in the country, and as many as 40% of these deaths were among children and young people. If we take a closer look, around 10,000 young people below the age of 18 years took their lives in 2022. Generally, more men die by suicide as compared to women in India. However, within this age group, we observe a skew in the data, where 55% of suicide deaths were reported among girls and young women.

Those between 18 and 30 years of age accounted for 30% of all deaths by suicide in the same year. Consistently, more men died by suicide in this age group than women - typically, 65% men compared to 35% women. However, suicides among young women increased at a higher rate - 12% - as compared to a 1% rise among young men.

A Host Of Factors Drive Youth To Take Their Lives

This may be answered in part by understanding the forces and drivers that shape young people's mental health and well-being. Last year, we conducted a landscape study in an attempt to answer this exact question. The study, funded by the Being initiative, involved a host of consultations and research activities with young people, mental health experts, development professionals, funders and policymakers across the country from diverse geographies, identities and contexts. Through this landscape analysis, we uncovered a myriad of personal, social and environmental factors that influence mental health and well-being for young people.

A Widening Generational Divide

The influence of family, both positive and negative, emerged frequently as a factor that impacts young people's mental health. Those we spoke to stressed the growing generational divide among young people and their parents. The constant tussle for autonomy in decisions around education, careers and relationships weighed on them; they expressed being misunderstood by their parents and unable to bridge the generational communication gap between them.

Many were deeply impacted by the family environments in which they were raised. They reported conflict and marital discord among parents, neglect and abuse and poor parental mental health, all of which had a direct consequence on their well-being. This instability in family relationships and its effect on young people is also reflected in suicide data from NCRB. Among the 69,000 cases of young people who died by suicide (18-30 and below 18 years) in 2022, over 30% reported family problems as the cause of death.

The Gender Quandary

The young women we spoke to were affected by the added burden of gendered expectations from families and society. Patriarchal notions of a woman's role and responsibilities within the household are internalised at a very young age. Young women learn early on to deprioritise their needs and ambitions as compared to their male siblings or partners.

In some parts of the country, this control extends to restrictions and policing of women's bodies and mobility - from deciding what young women wear and who they socialise with, to limiting their access to certain places when menstruating and controlling how many children they should have. The relationship between gender discrimination and violence and suicide in India needs further unpacking: It is disconcerting that suicide is the leading cause of death among young women in India between the age of 15-29 years.

The State Of Education And Employment

Another pervasive yet under-reported issue was the lack of support within education and workplace settings for young people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds. Young people reported experiences of institutional discrimination based on their identities of caste, religion, gender and sexual orientation, which compounds mental health challenges.

Often overlooked in the conversation on student suicides are working children and youth who have dropped out of schools or colleges. Employed in the informal sector, they face precarious working conditions, such as the lack of basic amenities, safety measures and protections from violence and discrimination. Young people frequently migrate to urban cities for better opportunities. In this unfamiliar environment, they encounter isolation, language barriers, and skill gap challenges, and are left to cope by themselves without adequate social or institutional support.

The Digital Boom

This is further complicated by the digital boom where smartphone and internet use has had a consequential and lasting impact on young people. Cyberbullying, digital addiction, misinformation and harmful portrayals of mental health and suicide in the media - including social media - have led to distress and unsafe behaviour among young people, who are left to negotiate these complex systems while confronting their generational challenges of growing socio-economic inequality, conflicts and climate change. The confluence of these interlinked drivers and forces places young people in a unique predicament.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The potential of India's youth is immense and their lived experiences and needs are highly diverse. Tackling these complex and cross-cutting issues requires building and strengthening collaboration among stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of youth mental health and, therefore, prevention of suicide. Services, policies and programmes should be made youth-friendly and inclusive of these diverse experiences.

Specific policy and structural recommendations include

• creating and promoting interventions that strengthen familial relationships based on mutual respect and communication, as well as addressing gender norms and dysfunction perpetuated by family systems; 
• need for schools and colleges to create enabling environments for the well-being of students from all backgrounds; 
• enforcing guidelines for the media on reporting or engaging with content on suicides; and 
• addressing youth unemployment by enabling young people to access stable and viable career pathways, thus offering a chance at upward mobility and the associated autonomy and freedoms it offers

Beyond the attention of World Suicide Prevention Day, suicide prevention requires a consistent, multisectoral response throughout the year to safeguard the country's youth.

[Tanya Nicole Fernandes and Amiti Varma are research fellows; Dr Soumitra Pathare is a consultant psychiatrist and director; all at the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy (CMHLP), Indian Law Society, India. Being India is a joint collaborative study by CMHLP and Sangath Addictions and related-Research Group.]