Is suicide contagious?

Shrinks believe news of a suicide can trigger a mentally disturbed patient to mirror the act and find ideas in victim's modus operandi

Shrinks believe news of a suicide can trigger a mentally disturbed patient to mirror the act and find ideas in victim's modus operandi

On Saturday, a 70-year-old man suffering from diabetes jumped from his fifth-floor bedroom window in Vakola.
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The same day, another 62-year-old diabetes patient from Borivli hanged himself at home.

On Sunday night, a 54-year-old doctor jumped tou00a0 death from the sixth floor of a Borivli building after being allegedly tense over his son's kidney problem.

While these may look like isolated instances, psychiatrists in the city are convinced that cluster suicides are a bigger problem than the attention they get.



"Sometimes, a mentally disturbed patient simply needs a trigger that he finds when he reads about another suicide or an attempt," said Dr Bharat Shah, consultant psychiatrist with Lilavati Hospital.

"They find ideas in the victim's modus operandi and see whether the incident has affected the victim's relatives. This could, worryingly, lead them to attempt suicide," he said.

Elderly citizens

Others echoed the same sentiment. "To call suicide an infectious disease would be too much, but reports of a suicide certainly fuel the already existing idea.

With most senior citizens, the desire is usually very strong given that their life's commitments are met, responsibilities have decreased and the fact that they feel they aren't really needed.
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They also usually choose a more dynamic form of suicide like a gunshot to the head or jumping from a high rise vis-a-vis a more passive attempt like slashing the wrist where there could be chances of a survival," said State Mental Health Authority member secretary Dr Sanjay Kumavat.

World Suicide Day

With World Suicide Day approaching next week, special attention still needs to be paid to elderly patients.

According to Dr Kersi Chavda, president, Bombay Psychiatry Society, only a little more than one per cent of psychiatrists in the city are specialised in handling geriatric cases.

"For example, the old practice was to classify dementia and depression in the same category for older patients, but there is an enormous difference between the two and they need to be addressed separately," he said.

High Numbers
1,82,936 people committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2007, according to National Crime Bureau Records.