World Health Day Today: Mental health on decline

More than 300 million people are now living with depression, a leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, according to the latest estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The number of people with depression has increased more than 18 percent from 2005 to 2015, revealed the WHO ahead of the World Health Day today. The theme of the day this year is “Depression: let's talk”.

In Bangladesh, 4.6 percent of the people, both male and female, suffer from depression, that is some 73.60 lakh out of 16 crore people, according to estimates from the National Mental Health Institute of Bangladesh and the WHO.

Lack of support for people with mental disorders, coupled with a fear of stigma, prevents many from accessing the treatment they need to live healthy and productive lives, the WHO notes.

A common mental disorder, depression is characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, and feelings of guilt or low self-worth, among other things. It is an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

According to WHO, close to 8,00,000 people commit suicide every year and there are many more who attempt suicides. It is the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally. An overwhelming 78 percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, it notes.

A government survey in Bangladesh has found a higher suicide rate.

According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey (BHIS) 2016, 66 people commit suicide every day. Of them, 40 are adults and the rest are young adults.

The survey was conducted with a big sample population of three lakh in 16 districts.

Statistics prepared by the Bangladesh police, however, show that on an average 28 people take their lives each day in Bangladesh. Some 80,239 people committed suicide from 2009 to 2016, either by hanging themselves or taking poison.

The statistics were prepared on the basis of unnatural death cases filed with different police stations.

An article titled “Suicide and depression in the World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region: a systematic review” by Helal Uddin Ahmed and Aftab Uddin, and led by Mohammad Didar Hossain, mentions an alarming proportion of depression recorded up to 51.7 percent among people who had committed suicide.

The article will be published today.

Didar Hossain said suicide risk varies with the type of depressive disorder and with a range of bio-psychosocial factors, including age, sex, previous history, family history, social support, religious belief and occupations.

He said suicides were preventable in a number of ways, like reducing access to the means of suicide, (for example, pesticides and certain medications), early identification, treatment and care of people with mental disorders and acute emotional distress, training of non-specialised health workers in the assessment and management of suicidal behaviour, and follow-up care for people who attempted suicide.

Prof Ashadul Islam, chairman of transfusion medicine department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, yesterday told The Daily Star that analysing attempted suicide cases, they found people with “O” blood group were highly sensitive and had suicidal tendencies.

Mekhala Sarkar, assistant professor (psychiatry) of National Institute of Mental Health, said people still do not consider mental stress as a serious problem, which sometimes results in unnatural deaths.

Suicidal deaths are preventable, she said, adding that if someone suffers from mental stress or any disturbances, he or she should consult experts immediately. “Once this practice develops in our society, suicidal deaths will be reduced.”

Joyosree Jaman, convener of anti-suicidal campaign forum Brighter Bangladesh, suggested appointing psychologists in every educational institution and offices so that people with mental disorders get immediate assistance.

One of the main reasons behind students taking their lives these days was that they were overburdened with studies, she observed. She mentioned of students of English medium schools and medical colleges.

Prof Shah Ehsan Habib of sociology department at Dhaka University told The Daily Star that social factors like financial problems as well as family and relationship issues lead to suicides.

Nowadays, people don't have time for others as they are too busy focusing on their own lives. The omnipresence of technology is also changing human behaviour, he said.

“It destroys family and social bonding as they don't meet regularly or spend time with others.”