More than seven lakh people commit suicide globally every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-years-olds.  In India a total of 1, 53,052 suicides were reported during 2020 showing an increase of 10% in comparison to 2019 and the rate of suicides has been increased by 8.7% during 2020 over 2019.

West Bengal is in fourth place with 13,103 suicide in 2020; 8.5% of total suicide in India though the population in West Bengal is 7.8% of total population of the country. The suicide rate in our state is 13.4, higher than National Average 11.3. (Source: NCRB Report 28/10/2021, page 196 & 200)

Suicide is a personal tragedy but it has a continuing ripple effect on the lives of families, friends and communities. One of the basic reasons of suicide is lack of awareness about Metal Health and very negative attitude towards Counselling among the mass.

According to WHO, Mental Health is ‘A state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her  own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.’  ‘Mental Health is not just the absence of Mental Disorder. It includes subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence and self-actualization of one’s intellectual and emotional potential, among others.’

In the Report of National Crime Record Bureau (published on 28 October, 2021, page 202), we see that 43.5% (Family Problems 33.6%, Marriage Related Issues 5%, Love Affairs 4.4%, Suspected/illicit Relation 0.5%) of total suicide take place only due to complete failure of inter-personal relationship. Counselling is one of the best ways to improve your inter-personal relationship through greater self-understanding, improved decision-making, development of inter-personal intelligence and behaviour change skills.

Another reason of suicide is mainly related to self-efficacy believes and a person’s efficiency and productivity. The total case of suicide related to Developmental Issues is 16.1% (Drag Abuse 6%, Bankruptcy 3.4%, Unemployment 2.3%, Failure in Examination 1.4%, Professional/ Career Problem 1.2%, Poverty 1.2%, Fall in Social Reputation 0.4%, Impotency/ infertility 0.2%). Proper guidance and counselling programme can address the personal developmental issues properly by developing one’s intra-personal intelligence, identifying his or her strength and weakness and by increasing Emotional Intelligence and helping the person in better realizing his or her Archetype.

According to WHO, in 21st century, one of the greatest threats to mankind and for sustainable development is mental illness. Last year survey shows that every one out of four people around the globe, diagnosed with mental illness. The problem is more severe in developing countries like India and under-developed African countries. There is no proper infrastructure in these countries for Mental Health Support including professionally qualified and adequately trained personnel.