Suicidal tendencies not uncommon in kids: experts

Psychologists believe that suicidal tendencies in children are not uncommon nowadays. Jigar Shah,a child counsellor from Ahmedabad,said although rare,suicide bids by children in the age-group of 7-15 years is not unheard of. The once uncommon causes like financial issues and family conflicts have emerged as common causes of suicidal tendencies in children today,he said.

“Children as young as seven or eight often observe tensions in the house. Although they do not understand the issue,constant arguments between parents or family members make them feel helpless. They develop a detachment from family and go in a shell or take desperate steps to end problems that they cannot solve otherwise,” Shah added.

His counselling centre gets at least one to two such cases every quarter of the year. The calls at the Suicide Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) in Ahmedabad speak of the increase in the rate. The volunteers said the rate of such cases per day has increased to about 10 per cent in the metro cities of Gujarat,as compared to one per cent four years ago.

Rajesh Vaishnav,a counsellor from SRC,explained that stress among children is common in cases of family discord,financial issues and peer pressure.

“Today,financial shortcomings of parents are known to children. The parents often talk about their financial limitations,their expenditures on the child’s grooming and education and force them to comprehend how much they do for them. This burdens a child and makes him feel insecure,” Vaishnav said.

He added: “Parents don’t know about the child’s psychology. Family discussions on money should be completely abandoned in front of children. Children make comparisons with other kids,but parents should have alternatives. They should also stop aping lifestyles that make children develop a liking for luxuries.”

Shah said in many cases,children seek undivided parental attention. “Children with less parental attention remain depressed and angry. Such children sometimes contemplate suicide,either for attention or to seek love from parents.

In one of the cases that we handled,a 12-year-old girl from Ahmedabad was dejected at the loss of parental attention and scratched her wrist with a pencil,” he added.

In Dhanisree’s case,the psychologists believe poverty and less or no attention from the family were the reasons behind her taking the extreme step.

Wary of failure,Class XII student ends life

A science student of Class XII fearing that he would fail in the board exam allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Ahmedabad on Saturday. The Sola Police stated that the deceased,Nimit Modi (17),was a student of the New Samarth High School at Satellite and resided at Sola.

Modi who was at home preparing for his board exams during the study vacation was under pressure and took the extreme step by hanging himself in his room,said police. Head Constable Dashrath Patel investigating the case said,“Modi being a science student of the higher secondary was under great pressure. His family,however,did not pressurise him for higher scores and were satisfied with his performance. Modi went into depression soon after his vacation began and believed the syllabus was too long to be finished.”

Patel further said,“Modi had told his mother that he might fail. The child’s parents had told him that he can take the exam again in case he failed in the first attempt.”

The post-mortem report has confirmed that throttling was the cause of the boy’s death. The police have registered a case of accidental death and begun further investigations.

—ENS