Suicide: Psychological Assessment and Management

Abstract

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death, claiming more than twice as many lives each year as does homicide. Every year one million people commit suicide, accounting for 1 to 2 percent of total global mortality. Suicide is a leading cause of premature death, especially among young adults. It is the fifth highest cause of year of life lost in the developed world. According to World Health Organization statistics, the annual world-wide incidence of completed suicide was 16 per 100000persons in 2000. This means that globally one person commits suicide every minute (WHO, 2012)1. As the largest continent in the World, Asia accounts for about 60% of World suicides, with China, India, and Japan accounting for about 40% of the World's suicides. According to research study, in Asian continent Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan had relatively higher suicide rates (>13.0/100, 000), with Bangladesh having the highest (39.6/100, 000). Suicide is estimated to represent two percent of the total global burden of disease. Suicide is an important issue in the Indian context. More than one lakh (one hundred thousand) lives are lost every year to suicide in our country. In the last two decades, the suicide rate has increased from 7.9 to 10.3 per 100, 000. The majority of suicides (37.8%) in India are by those below the age of 30 years. The fact that 71% of suicides in India are by persons below the age of 44 years imposes a huge social, emotional and economic burden on our society (Shukla et al., 1990)2.