World Suicide Prevention Day 2025: Why India still struggles with rising mental-health concerns | EXPLAINED
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "World Suicide Prevention Day 2025: Why India still struggles with rising mental-health concerns | EXPLAINED")
Representational Image. Photograph: (Unsplash)
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics highlight a consistent and concerning upsurge in suicide rates in India from 9.9 per lakh population in 2017 to 12.4 per lakh population in 2022.
World Suicide Prevention Day has been observed every year since 2003 on September 10 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in association with the World Health Organisation (WHO) as co-sponsor. The triennial theme for this day from 2024 to 2026 is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide”.
According to 2021 data in PIB, this day marks significance as every year, more than 727,000 people die by suicide globally, and for every death, around 20 people die by suicide. The 2021 data also indicate that among 15–29-year-olds, suicide was the third leading cause of death globally, which shows the urgent need for comprehensive intervention strategies.
On the other hand, India secured a third spot globally for female suicides annually and nearly a fourth of male suicides. On average, over 100,000 die by suicide in India each year.
Why India still struggles with rising mental-health concerns?
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics highlight a consistent and concerning upsurge in suicide rates in India from 9.9 per lakh population in 2017 to 12.4 per lakh population in 2022. The suicide rate in India varies from state to state, ranging from 0.6 per 100,000 population in Bihar to 43.1 per 100,000 population in Sikkim. In the other end, the southern cities of Vijayawada account for 42.6 deaths per 100,000 population and Kollam for 42.5 suicides per 100,000 population, reported the highest rates in 2022.
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The primary factors of the rise of mental health in India currently are social media, as it is fueling anxiety, depression and low self-worth among youth in India. Recently, Social media influencer and cosmetics brand founder Misha Agrawal died by suicide following depression just two days prior to her 25th birthday after she lost a few Instagram followers, as per the NDTV report. Similarly, a 16-year-old girl from Noida died by suicide, reportedly upset over fewer Instagram followers in July 2023.
Structural hostages
Structural shortages related to mental-health care remain another major reason for India's able to reduce the concerns. As per the recommendations, there are far fewer psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers per capita. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted that there are roughly 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in India, which is considered well below the WHO benchmark of about three per 100,000. This scarcity escalates into long waits, limited outreach in rural areas and overburdened services in cities.
Low awareness
Stigma and less awareness also compound to capacity problem, as a large portion of people do not seek treatment willingly and receive treatment for mental health because of a lack of information, shame, ignorance or the perception that services are inaccessible. In response, WHO has underscored its estimates of the public-health burden of mental disorders and the substantial economic cost they impose if left unaddressed.
What is the government's stance?
The Indian government has come up with several policies, but implementation remains uneven. In order to expand the workforce and improve care, the National Mental Health Programme and government initiatives have launched several other programs like Tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States), DMHP (District Mental Health Programme), RKSK (Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram), and Manodarpan strengthen helplines, community outreach, and school-based support.
In addition, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) was also released in 2022, intending to reduce suicide mortality by 10% by 2030. In 2024, 25 Centres of Excellence were also sanctioned to train more postgraduate students in mental health and provide advanced treatment.
