Tragic numbers

Published September 18, 2012

SRI Lanka has had a long history of suicide, with numbers increasing fourfold since 1950, according to the Census and Statistics Department. In recent years, preventive action by groups has brought down the numbers, but serious challenges [still] exist…. It was reported that 1,778 suicides had … taken place so far this year. Police said among them were 41 boys and 77 girls below the age of 16 and 397 women….

Police cited the break-up of love affairs and marriages, addiction to drugs and alcohol, family disputes, mental disorder and the death of loved ones as some of the common reasons for committing suicide….

[As per] a study done in 1995 in more than 80 countries worldwide by the University of Harvard … Sri Lanka was found to have the highest rate of suicide in the world…. According to local statistics, a majority of these suicides … came from the rural communities of the country. Sumithrayo, which runs the best-known suicide counselling programme in the country, says that 50 to 55 per cent of the suicides island-wide are pesticide related….

As police numbers show, more men than women are prone to committing suicide. The Census and Statistics Department insists the gender gap appears to be widening over the years…. Local media reports have also highlighted the fact that Sri Lanka’s ageing population is vulnerable to suicide because reduced income, loneliness and depression are more common among the aged….

As traditional societies break down and elders are separated from their families, it becomes harder to combat the feeling of uselessness…. Sri Lanka’s rapidly ageing society will face a massive challenge within the next decade as it deals with a shifting paradigm where more elderly people will need counselling and interactive social networks such as senior centres that have evolved in the West….— (Sept 17)

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.