The Chinese Virus, causing death to a huge amount of people while some went through a lot of
- Mental stress
- Many couldn’t pay back their loans
- Many were and are still out of jobs after the lockdown was imposed
A rapid increase of suicides have been seen in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. On 17th June, a man named Rakesh Das, 32years committed suicide in an OYO hotel in sector 12, Noida, allegedly after inhaling Nitrogen Gas, he was under a lot of stress as he had lost his job at a private company due to COVID and was facing money crunch, he was unable to pay the amount of 5Lakh that he had borrowed after losing his job. The staff of the OYO hotel raised an alarm after he found out that a room was locked from inside and the person was not responding. Noida police broke the window of the room and found the man in an unconscious state. Noida police recovered a suicide note wherein he had written about the financial crunch and why he was taking this extreme step, the note also stated to hand over the body to his family.
On 24th April, a doctor jumped off the 14th floor apartment in Sector 137, Noida, she along with her husband had tested positive for COVID-19. His wife’s body was taken for an autopsy. It’s not just the common people but also the frontlines who were going through mental stress due to COVID. Many more cases of suicides were reported where couples have committed suicide together, some people had gotten scared of the virus and took their lives. In 2020 since January, right before the lockdown there were over 300 suicides reported in Noida and increased rapidly after the lockdown was initiated. According to police reports in the initial week of march, there were six men and two women in total 8 people who committed suicide after losing their jobs, 24 cases in April, 31 cases in May and 34 cases in the month of July and 26 cases in August and since then the case only grew.
According to data, on an average 1 person commits suicide every day in Gautam Budh Nagar mostly due to financial crunch, debts. There is no doubt that because of economic loss, businesses collapsing, losing jobs is causing people mental stress. The surrounding also matters a lot in times of stress however the pandemic has brought a lot of negativity.
In September 2020, in Rajya Sabha Congress leader Anand Sharma & Ramgopal Yadav (Samajwadi party) expressed their concern over the rising number of suicides in Noida. Mr Yadav said, ‘’Many have lost their businesses and jobs, families have been destroyed, forget about education when people aren’t able to feed themselves also and are sleeping with an empty stomach’’. He further asked the government to give an allowance of Rs 15000 every month, to those who have lost their jobs so that they could at least have some resources and not die due to starvation.
Congress leader Anand Sharma also said while raising concern, 8 lakh suicides happen worldwide annually out of which 1.39 lakh occurred in India resulting to India being accountable of 15 percent of the total suicides in the world and a 4 percent increase has been seen in India of suicide cases.
Is suicide the only way? It can’t be right? Let us understand how the Doctors have been affected due to the pandemic as they have been the front liners and have put their lives at risk each and every day to save our lives.
Mental pressure is something where one succumbs to it and faces difficulties to get out of it especially if the environment is not right also and if they don’t have anyone to speak to and to let out their issues. Life and death struggles are part of the job at any hospital however COVID-19 has impacted the doctors in a more emotional way. There were doctors who committed suicide due to the stress they went through and are likely to be affected for life after everything they’ve seen or went through. Spending their entire time in the hospitals and not being able to go back to their families can definitely take a toll on one’s mental state, being around a virus and seeing people die because of it can naturally increase the anxiety levels of any doctor. Exhaustion, Isolation and anxiety are the 3 major risks which puts one in a place where they feel trapped, lose control and can’t sustain the isolation especially because of the lockdown.
The lockdown brought isolation to many and staying in one place for almost 2 years now can be taxing for all of us. Isolation has increased the amount of anxiety and exhaustion which is at its peak, people are anxious for the future, anxious of stepping out and doing their daily chores have become exhausting for people. The restrictions around Covid-19 are way too much, yes it’s important that there are restrictions, but it leads to a state of exhaustion to follow so many protocols in your daily routine. There was a case of a well-known ER doctor in New York who had succumbed to Covid-19 and had recovered fully from the virus, sadly she took her own life after describing the horror she saw in the hospitals.
Similarly, people go to jobs every day, businesses, earning their income and then suddenly the pandemic hits and everything changes, there is an economic crisis. In the initial months, the World Health Organization failed to warn India beforehand, and it was only in March 2020 when India went under a lockdown which did control the cases however people lost their jobs, daily wage workers had no medium to survive, and were sleeping on an empty stomach every day. Which led to a lot of suicides over the globe. Many scientific communities warned that the pandemic would lead to an economic crisis which would then lead to a secondary crisis of suicides.
People going through stress can take certain coping measures
· The most important thing is to take care of yourself, if you stay healthy, happy, and positive your body will respond also in a healthily. Stay Hydrated, water doesn’t harm anyone, eat healthy, sleep on time & take appropriate rest, make sure you exercise it not only keeps you fit but stimulates your mind as well.
· At the same time, some people have a hard time coping with stress and tend to lose focus or feel lethargic at times. While going under any kind of stress it is advisable to speak to your loved ones and if one feels they need more help, do not hesitate to reach out to your friends or people you can trust or even to a professional. If u are under distress, please visit the website here: http://www.healthcollective.in/suicide-prevention-helplines/
· Social media, news channels have done a great job in reporting and giving India the news about the situation of COVID-19, at the same time excessive consumption of news, social media can hamper your mental health and will leave you under a lot of stress.
There are certain drawbacks as well when it comes to ‘Suicides’
· A proper infrastructure lacks when we talk about suicides and how to prevent suicides which includes the suicide helpline, which has gone unanswered several times according to reports, lack of proper medium to communicate. Websites which help people under stress or are having suicidal thoughts should be easily accessible and user friendly, the design should be as such where one can easily surf through and access the help they need.
· Some countries do not have a proper system to collect the exact suicide data
An Initiative launched for suicide prevention
Inspector General of Police-Chhattisgarh, Vivekanand Sinha received several reports of suicides and rise in cases of mental stress in Durg range, after which a campaign was launched by the Chhattisgarh police in September 2020 where they formulated communication strategies and took up an impressive approach to give out positive messages to the masses to create awareness.
If u need any help or anyone around you needs help, call Sneha foundation on 04424640050 (24×7) helpline number. The Tata institute of social sciences helpline- 02225521111 (Monday to Saturday 8am to 10pm).
Noida has seen a massive rise in suicides since India was attacked with the Chinese Virus. Ever since the pandemic hit, not just Noida (Uttar Pradesh) but also worldwide suicides were reported. Many lives have been lost, even those who succumbed to the virus. We have been warned of the third wave and needless to say we cannot be taking it lightly like last time where a sudden increase in cases and deaths were witnessed. Let’s stay indoors and get vaccinated.
[author title=”Shefali Kochhar,” image=”http://goachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Screenshot_20210321-160233_LinkedIn.jpg”]Journalist, Goa Chronicle .
I am an entrepreneur who has tried her hands on various ventures like Electric Vehicle Charging Station , Online Retail Store / Trading and few more ventures. I have done my entrepreneurship from Amity University Noida.
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