Thread by @netshrink

THREAD: Troubled by many media reports & SM conversations where depression + mental health issues are assumed to be only causes of #suicide
Of course, we need conversations on #Mentalhealth & depression is associated with suicide. Why am I then bothered by this? Read on..1/n

In the West, studies show that ~ 80% of suicides have depression as a predisposing cause. Also in West, suicides peak is mostly older ppl (>60 yrs) + male:ratio is ~ 4: 1.
However India's suicide epidemology is different. In India, only ~50% have some mental illness...2/n

Also our peak suicides are in age group of 18-39 yrs + male:female ratio is ~ 1.5:1. So a lot of young Indian women dying of suicides.1 out of 3 women dying of suicide 🌍 are Indian. For women in this age group, suicides is No 1 cause of death, ahead of maternal mortality..3/n

Of these Indian women, ~ 1/3 have a history of #domesticviolence Research shows that while some have depression, many don't. Frequently, suicide/attempt is the only way out of an intolerable situation. But media + professionals don't talk about #domesticviolence & suicide...4/n

What about men dying of suicide in India? Again research shows that #alcohol is implicated in ~1/3 of cases. Either under influence or history of alcohol use disorder. But media+professionals do not talk about #alcohol & suicides...5/n

These 2 are also interlinked. #Alcohol use/misuse by partners is associated with↑risk of #DomesticViolence for women. So addressing alcohol is equally important for addressing women's #suicides But this is rarely the focus of media +SM conversations about suicide...6/n

Take children esp 14/15 yr olds. Education stress, Board exams, parental pressure. Important reasons for suicide. What we need is a reform of education system. Like this one below. Education policy changes will have more impact than anything else on young ppl's suicides...7/n

Talking of young people, what about #LGBTQIA ? Young ppl navigating alternative sexuality in our country are at high risk for #suicide but we rarely talk about them in the context of #suicideprevention If we want to ↓suicides shouldn't we address this vulnerable group? ...8/n

Another thing we don't talk, nor does media is #caste discrimination & it's impact on ppl's lives leading to #suicides That's another group who are airbrushed out of conversation when the focus is only #depression ....9/n

And the perpetually suffering - #Farmers The economic distress in the farming sector is more responsible for farmer suicides than depression alone.
For all above groups, depression is only the final common pathway. It's like saying a person died of cardiovascular failure...10/n

which is just the proximate cause of death due to many illnesses. In fact, 9/10 with depression won't die of suicide
So by all means talk about #Depression but also abt #domesticviolence #alcohol #sexuality #education #economics when you talk of suicides. Don't dumb it down..END