By our Special Correspondent,
Kozhikoder: Suicide deaths were on a considerable increase in Kerala from 2012-2023 , a study revealed here.
While 8490 suicides were reported in the State in 2012, the number went up to 10,972 in 2023. The lowest during the period was in 2015 with 7692 suicides, a study by Kozhikode based Thanal, a suicide prevention centre instituted by the Indian Medical Association here.
Among districts, Thiruvananthapuram has consistently recorded the highest number of suicides in 2021 while Wayanad and Kasargode recorded the least numbers.
Suicide rate was found to be the highest among the aged. Most people who died by suicide in 2023 were above 60 years of age (28.42 per cent) while those in the age group of 46-60 were close behind (28.34 per cent) followed by people in the age group of 30-45 category (24.89 per cent) the revealed.
The study showed that marital status of individuals also factor in determining suicidal tendencies, as 76.6 per cent of the people who died by suicide in 2023 were married while the rate is drastically low among widowed and divorced people (2 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively and 80 per cent of the people who died by suicide were men, the study reported.
While family issues were the biggest reason behind most suicides (47.4 per cent), mental and physical issues (21.) per cent and drug abuse (9.7 per cent have contributed heavily too.
The study has also pointed out that suicide rate was much higher among the less educated and those with no regular income.
