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Citation
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Mani V, Puri M, Manikappa SK, Goyal AK, Christy J, Dinakaran D, Benegal V. Indian J. Psychol. Med. 2024; 46(1): 92-93. |
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Abstract
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Disasters have a substantial effect on both the physical and mental health of the affected population.1 Suicidal behaviors, including suicidal ideations and suicide attempts, are among the most common consequences of disasters.2 A meta-analysis showed that post-disasters, 12.9% of people had suicide ideation and 8.8% attempted suicide.2 Though disasters may increase the risk of suicide, the suicide rates tend to vary post-disasters.3–5 Studies that examined the impact of disasters on the suicide rate in India are limited. In this study, we attempted to explore the changes in suicide rates following major disasters in India.
In India, the suicide rate is presented as annual reports by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). To understand the changes in suicide rate following disasters in India, the available data on the major disasters was taken from the NCRB website. Since there is no standard definition for major disasters or national disasters in India (NDMA, 2019), disasters that have killed at least 500 people and have been reported to have overwhelmed the state’s capacity to handle and where external help was sought were included.6 The disasters taken for the study included natural and human-induced disasters such as floods, earthquakes, drought, economic recession, war, tsunami, pandemic, and industrial disasters. The suicide rates two years before and after the event were included for analysis. In previous studies, suicide rates 36-48 months before and after a disaster were analyzed to study the impact.4 However, in India, suicidal deaths are reported annually, not monthly. So, to obtain and maintain uniformity in the acquired data, we used the following method: If the disaster had happened in the first six months of a year, the suicide rate of that particular year was included in computing the impact of the disaster. On the other hand, if the disaster happened in the last six months of the year, the suicide rate of that year was included in calculating the baseline before the disaster. ...
Language: en |