Blaming technology for deaths by suicide is misguided

Source: The post is based on an article “Blaming technology for deaths by suicide is misguided” published in The Hindu on 12^th October 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Governance

Relevance: concerns associated with suicides in India

News: The data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2021 shows that suicide claimed 1,64,033 lives in that year.

What are the reasons for suicides?

One of the reasons for suicide today is the expanding role of digital technologies.

Technological factors such as cyberbullying, loss of self-esteem due to social media or heavy reliance on virtual followers are contributing to the issue of suicide.

It is true that the role of technology has increased human life and its influence will create positive as well as negative impacts on human life.

However, there is also a need to realize that technology is neither the main reason for a problem nor the perfect solution.

Although technology plays a role in mental health or in suicides, technology cannot only be blamed completely. There are other issues that need to be addressed in a comprehensive and holistic manner.

For example, according to a study in the U.S., participants who experienced cyberbullying, are more likely to commit suicide or attempt to it, compared to those who did not.

However, similar results are true even for those who are bullied in person.

Therefore, the medium of bullying is not an issue but it is the act of bullying that needs to be addressed.

Moreover, awareness campaigns, sensitisation programmes, community support, etc. can be adopted to find the solution to bullying.

What has led to higher suicide cases in Tamil Nadu and what are the solutions for it?

Reasons

Tamil Nadu has been consistently reporting highest shares of reported deaths by suicide in the country. It has reported over 11% of total cases in the previous decade and nearly 19,000 cases in 2021 alone.

The suicides in Tamil Nadu were mainly associated with playing online rummy games.

This led Tamil Nadu government to ban most online games played for money including rummy and poker.

Analysis of the data from the NCRB on deaths by suicide in Tamil Nadu makes it evident that the policy response is not adequate to address the magnitude of the crisis in the State.

According to the NCRB, family problems, illness, marriage/love-related issues, etc. alone contribute to more than two-thirds of the deaths by suicide in India.

Solutions

Evolve a holistic policy response to minimise future cases rather than top-down policy formulations which focuses only on a few high-profile incidents.

An inclusive community-based mental health and suicide-prevention approach.

The central government is already accepting technology in improving mental health outcomes for citizens. Like the announcement of the National Tele-Mental Health Program. It provides access to free, round-the-clock mental health interventions in remote and underserved areas.

Therefore, it is wrong to blame only technology for the suicides and there is a need for effective policy to address inter-related causes.