BENGALURU : In an indication of the growing addiction problem in the country, deaths by suicide attributed to drug abuse and alcohol addiction breached the 10,000 mark for the first time in 2021, with more than one such death reported every hour on an average.
The 10,560 deaths reported across India in 2021 was up by more than 15% from 2020, which saw 9,169 cases. And, just five states – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala – account for more than 78% of these cases.
While Maharashtra has consistently been topping the table in the last few years, Karnataka, which had under 100 such cases in 2015, has seen more significant spikes. The other three states have also seen a steady increase in cases.
Psychologists and psychiatrists say addiction could have acted as the “final trigger”, while underlying mental conditions or issues like family problems and financial troubles may have pushed victims to the brink.
“Suicides never happen for one reason. There are always many underlying issues. When it comes to drugs or alcohol addicts, one should understand that long-term use of these substances increases depression, which could also lead to self-harm. In many cases, the intent may not have been to die by suicide, but just to inflict pain on oneself as a relief, but that may have turned fatal,” a psychiatrist explained.
The government began classifying such deaths in 1995, when there were 745 suicides due to addiction. Since 2016, there has been a significant rise in addiction-driven suicides, with each year adding at least 1,000 more cases.
