Suicide research in India: An overview of four decades

Suicide is a global phenomenon and a major public health concern and 'it is possibly preventable if it is well understood'.

The article is an attempt to understand 'suicide in India' with the existing literature and the lacuna for the four decades.

The information is collected from 270 articles on suicide research in India, published in various electronic data bases and different official sites as surprisingly the nation is with highest suicide mortality rate among all regional countries.

The review shows an increase in the number of articles on suicide in India over the period of time. Though the suicide mortality rate in India is significantly high, the number of intervention studies remains very minimal. India's understanding about 'the concept' remains questionable as the data from different sources for the same time period shows a huge disparity. Sex, age, socio-economic status, substance abuse, mental illness, medical illness, psychological and environmental stressors etc make individuals vulnerable to end their lives.

Appropriate official documentation and more qualitative studies would help in understanding the phenomena better. Intervention studies and policy level changes are the need of the hour to save the nation from the dangerous 'iceberg of suicide'.