Skip to main content

Farmers suicides and Mental health



In India, it is estimated that 16,000 farmers die by suicide each year.
Suicide is usually associated with mental illness, which in farming communities, appears to be particularly stigmatized and poorly understood.
"In India we haven't done good research on farmers' suicides and in terms of mental health, this has always been seen as a social issue. By far the most common mental disorder that contributes to the risk are stress and depression which can be a result of a range of social and health factors, especially in rural communities.
Depression is one of the main factors which affects farmers and their families to give up on their lives.
The five most affected states are :

  •  Maharashtra (3,141)
  • Karnataka (2,585)
  • Andhra Pradesh (2,525)
  • Madhya Pradesh (1,237)
  • Chattisgarh (1,126)
The most of the suicides happened in these states and the main reason behind this is Agrarian Crisis. 
Thirty-two years after the first farmer suicide,  where the farmerbsaid that he was ending his life because of the Agrarian Crisis,  nothing has changed.
Instead the crisis has deepened and the farmers suicides have multiplied. " said Amar Habib one of the activists.
According to The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported in its 2012 annual report, that 135,445 people committed suicide in India, of which 13,755 were farmers (11.2%)
Psychological help is a new and scattered effort through many states are witnessing distress suicides by farmers.
Society for rural Rural and Urban Joint Activities (SRUJAN), a grassroot level non profit,  is working with the farmers in Yavatmal District of Maharashtra 2005 onwards on farmers distress related issues.
They have their own psychiatrist who help farmers in dealing with the stress or depression they are going through.

In rural India, the challenges of addressing mental illness are particularly significant. The country lacks resources in the field, and most of the available resources are located in major cities or highly urbanised states. According to the 2015-16 National Mental Health Survey, the number of psychiatrists in the country varied from 0.05 for every 100,000 persons in Madhya Pradesh (central India) to 1.2 in southeastern Kerala. 

Decades after independence, farmer suicides continue be a major problem in India and are a testimony to the broken rural credit markets that need urgent reform.






References :

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0020764009103645?journalCode=ispa

https://www.ijcmph.com/index.php/ijcmph/article/view/422

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301274754_Factors_associated_with_the_farmer_suicide_crisis_in_India

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-32827047

Picture Courtesy:
https://www.newsclick.in/understanding-indias-agrarian-crisis-beyond-pink-bollworms-and-poor-monsoons

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psychology: Importance in the contemporary world

“What you think, you become, What you feel, you attract, What you imagine, you create.” - Lord Buddha Human mind comes across approximately 6,000 thoughts a day. These thoughts have the power  to shape the mental schema and behavior of a person on short as well as long term basis . Research statistics by WHO reveal that around 7.5 percent of the Indian population suffers from  some form of mental illness throughout their lives. Consequently, there is an evident increase in  significance of psychological interventions. Psychology is a scientific study of human mind and  behavior and traces its origin from 19th century Philosophy and Physiology. Various schools of  thoughts namely Structuralism(Focusing on mind as a physical entity ), Functionalism (Functions  of mind came into consideration), Behaviorism (Visible human behavior was assessed ), etc.  emerged in Psychology over time and paved way for various scrutinized concepts relating to  human me...
4 comments
Read more

MENTAL HEALTH: MYTHS AND FACTS

Have you ever discussed about your mental health! NO? But why? Mental health is as important as physical health.You should take care of your mental health in the same way you take care of your physical health. Emotional wellness incorporates our enthusiastic, mental, and social prosperity.It affects how we think, feel, and act.Similarly, it assists with deciding how we handle pressure, identify with others, and settle on decisions. Psychological wellness is significant at each phase of life, from childhood and pre-adulthood through adulthood. The stigma associated with mental health, lack of awareness and limited access to professional help are the reasons why only 10% to 12% of suffering people seek help. The stigma attached gives birth to a lot of myths about mental health. Check out these myths and their reality about mental health that needs to be addressed immediately! 1. MYTH: Mental health problems are rare. I am safe. FACT: Mental health problems are actually ve...
10 comments
Read more

BRING ME BACK!

The poem is about a girl who was very courageous but one incident of her life changed everything. That incident transformed her into a person she never was. The demons (negative thoughts) inside her were breaking her down but somehow she managed to win over those demons by sharing her thoughts with the people around. It was difficult for her yet she made through it giving everyone the important message- Share your demons with someone. It was the day, that changed every single way The way she smiled, The way she cried, The way she loved, The way she cared, The way she was, Was now lost. She was always the one who loved to talk, She was the one who would laugh a lot, She was someone who was bold enough, She was the one who use to scold everyone, Her personality was bubbly, Her voice was strong, Something happened,  And everything was gone. She was a fighter, She was fierce,  She was that dominating head, None shit who beared. What happened that day, that she changed her way. Wha...
13 comments
Read more