Rising Suicides of Techies: Young India on the Edge and Lost in Isolation

It has been a while since India has had this dubious credential. The nation is home to second largest human resources with majority of its population being the youth, but unfortunately it also has a high rate of suicides among young people.

In fact, a World Health Organisation’s report on worldwide suicide figures put India on the top most position. So, the steady increase of India’s march towards being tech-savvy nation has also been its highest casualty. The WHO report clearly indicates some worrisome trends that can put the nation’s future in serious jeopardy. Women and youth are among the highest victims of suicidal tendencies, and majority of them succeed in ending their own lives before or just at reaching the prime of their lives.

This alarming trend has been on a progressive mode in India since the last few years. Economic crisis, immigration fuelled by globalization, isolation from communities, mental problems that don’t get identified or addressed – all these and much more contribute to the increasing number of suicides in India. This drastic act of ending one’s life is mostly total. Because the ones who survive such attempts will be treated as criminals since according to Indian law, suicide is a crime. There was this brief period when it was freed from the clutches of making it a criminal act, but very soon, it was back to being a crime.

While the youth in the age group of 25- 30 commit suicides the highest, there are others who end their lives too. Women across age groups and farmers who are at the mercy of government’s policies often give up hopes owing to aspects that are beyond their control.

In 2012, about 258,075 lives were lost to the disturbing trend of suicide. This number is more than the lives lost in either cross border terrorism or road accidents. Every 40^th second, India loses a precious life that could have helped the country’s progress inch further. And over 75% of these suicides occur in low and middle class income households.

Apart from suicide of farmers who are forced to rely on old policies and meager income to support their families, techies seem to be biting this trend faster than ever. While women form a strong number in the suicide statistics, men still hold the majority.

Though inhuman, if one wants to consider the number of farmers who are forced to end their lives the reasons are aplenty and sometimes go beyond comprehensible aspects that affect the farmers and their lives.

But, when young techies consider suicide despite being able to afford a handsome living, job security and ample opportunities in their chosen area of expertise, things begin to look hazy after a while.

It was just a few months ago that a young techie well within his 30s committed suicide jumping off fourth floor of an under-construction building in Bangalore. He was employed in a prestigious company, took home a good pay packet and was living in a city that holds more job opportunities apart from Mumbai in the current times. His future, obviously, held more promises than his past.

His end came in a bizarre manner. He posted a video of himself, walking on the ledge of the building from where he planned his end, held the fire brigade and allied forces for over two hours and then ran to the other end of the building and jumped from a place where no one was prepared to catch him crash landing. He immediately died of the impact.

This is not an isolated case. Internet is filled with information and news relating to dead techies who ended their lives at various parts of the world. What does them in, despite the decent life they would be leading? In more ways than one, having a decent life is no guarantee towards mental imbalance creeping in. In fact, such socially safe circumstances can act as covers for any mental issue that one could be facing. Lessened social interaction and increased online presence claims its casualties in the form of people who yearn for socially stimulating situations that could have helped their problems.

Offices today are more like rule books that increase stress than address it. Professional atmosphere has no space for personal issues, and when the vents begin to close one by one, an individual gets desperate and finds the only way out – end the life.

But, that’s not the answer. India needs to face this question and find ways of addressing this problem before an entire generation is lost to isolation.