Sounding the alarm on suicide

In another tragic incident, a 39-year-old assistant manager of a multinational firm killed himself at his home in Gurugram in September, allegedly after some accusations were raised against him by a female colleague.

Amit Kumar left a four-page suicide note, in which he said his character had been tarnished due to the allegations against him at his workplace.

According to Kumar’s wife, he had sent text messages to some colleagues, saying he was going to kill himself. One of his colleagues and members of the company’s management have been charged with abetment to suicide, say police officials.

iStock, credit alaji Srinivasan

Abetment to suicide is when someone is judged by a court to have instigated another person to commit suicide because their acts or omissions, or a continued course of conduct, created such circumstances that the other was left with no other alternative but to commit suicide. A person may abet suicide by words or conduct, or both.

In August 2021, 34-year-old Jangam Anil Kumar, who worked at Tata Consultancy Services in Hyderabad, ended his life by hanging allegedly due to heavy pressure at work. Kumar is survived by his wife Jangam Jyoti and four-year-old daughter Jaishna Malika.

In 2019, a 24-year-old female software employee committed suicide by hanging in her hostel room in the Raidurgam area of Hyderabad city. Her colleagues said Pogaku Harini was depressed after being told that she would not be offered anymore work.

Another IT worker, 23-year-old Gundla Chaitanya, who worked for a software company in Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad city, committed suicide in the same year at the guest hostel he was staying in. He left a note behind for his parents saying he was unhappy with his job.

These are not isolated examples of people working in the IT industry – or for multinational companies and corporations (MNCs) – ending their lives after experiencing work-related stress due to problems like long hours, tight deadlines, heavy workloads, job insecurity and conflicts with co-workers or bosses.

Although some high-flying jobs provide good salaries, many young white-collar workers in India are under immense pressure at work, and this is pushing them to the brink. In fact, a quick look around a typical busy office will often reveal the signs of high levels of work-related stress due to long hours, mediocre pay, job strain and poor future prospects.

Health risks from working long hours

In 2020, when Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested that Indians work for a minimum of 64 hours a week for two to three years to compensate for the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus lockdown, he faced widespread criticism. His critics pointed to studies that show clearly that regularly working long hours can cause severe physical and mental stress in the working population and is a major risk factor for increasing suicidal thoughts and intentions.

Statistics show that suicides among professional workers have risen dramatically in the last couple of years. As many as 50 people in India are currently thought to commit suicide every week due to career or workplace problems, according to alarming recent data for 2021 from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

A total of 164,033 people died by suicide in India in 2021, an increase of 7.2 per cent compared to 2020, according to the latest NCRB report.

The suicide rate is the highest since India began publishing this data in 1967, with 12 suicides per 100,000 people in 2021.

In 2021, government employees accounted for 1.2 per cent (1,898) of the total number of suicide victims while seven per cent (11,431) of those who took their own lives were employed by private sector enterprises.

Students accounted for eight per cent of the victims (13,089) and the unemployed for 8.4 per cent (13,714) of the total. Self-employed people accounted for 12.3 per cent (20,231) of the total number of suicide victims.

Mental health experts say the pandemic has led to significantly more suicides among professionals as there is fear and widespread panic, adding that it’s the uncertainty that causes the maximum distress.

High rate of suicide in developed states

According to the NCRB, the rate of deaths by suicide was highest in developed states like Kerala and Telangana, at 27 suicides per 100,000 people.

The NCRB data also shows that 72.5 per cent of those who committed suicide in India in 2021 were men.

The bureau also reported that in 2020 more people died by suicide than by reported cases of Covid-19. India reported more than 153,000 suicides in 2020, including the suicides of more than 37,000 ‘daily wage earners’.

However, most experts believe that the available statistics for the number of suicides in India are an underestimate, and do not trust the data. Many suicides aren’t included in the official statistics, for a variety of reasons. For example, in the case of suicide by poisoning, the victim’s family may report the death to police as accidental poisoning, rather than as deliberate, to avoid the stigma associated with a family member committing suicide.

Also, if a suicide takes place outside work hours or away from the workplace, it may not be classified as work-related – even if the victim’s family and police suspect that work-related stress or other factors connected to the victim’s job may have directly led, or contributed to, the individual taking their own life.

Dr Jini K Gopinath, chief psychology officer at YourDOST, an online counselling and emotional support platform, argues that the official data around the number of reported cases of suicides can be skewed “as 50 per cent of the cases won’t even get registered as suicides due to social stigma”.

“So, the number of deaths by suicide is much higher than the actual recorded cases,” he says.

Suicide rate rising in the armed forces

Unfortunately, even India’s armed forces are facing an alarming rise in the number of suicides. Long working hours, a lack of adequate sleep and rest, the attitude of senior leadership and long deployments in conflict areas are the core contributors to high stress levels in the armed forces.

In July, the central government said 819 armed forces personnel died by suicide over the last five years, with the Indian Army accounting for 642 of the cases.

Minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, said the Indian Air Force reported 148 cases of suicide, while the Indian Navy saw 29 cases.

“For management of stress and suicides in services, the armed forces are continuously evolving measures to improve the stress mitigating mechanisms,” Bhatt said. “An elaborate mental health programme has been formulated and is in vogue since 2009.”

Service personnel at high risk of stress are identified and counselled by the commanding officers of their units, regimental medical officers and junior leaders in accordance with the official procedures, added Bhatt.

The minister said all armed forces personnel returning to their units after leave are interviewed, counselled and medically examined by the regimental medical officers.

“Sessions for stress management are organised by commanders and psychiatrists at all major stations,” he said. “Counselling is an intrinsic component of 23 psychiatric centres in the army manned by well trained and qualified psychiatrists and psychiatric nursing assistants.”

The Indian Navy recently put in place a policy to address the issue of suicides among its personnel.

Under the Indian Navy Strategy for Mental Health Assistance Resilience and Training (IN-SMART), a toll-free suicide helpline is available exclusively for Indian Navy personnel at INHS Asvini, the flagship hospital of the Indian Navy.

The issue of suicide among soldiers was also referred to the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) for advice on how the armed forces can reduce the risk.

“The institute came up with several recommendations, some of which, like timely grant of leave and enhanced allowances, have been implemented,” said Maj Gen Ashok Kumar, VSM (retired), a defence analyst and Kargil war veteran. “Additionally, some units and formations have adopted additional measures – such as counselling, helplines and medical support to ensure a positive mental health state for soldiers in all ranks. Despite this, suicide cases continue to rise.”

Although health and wellbeing experts believe a certain amount of work-related stress doesn’t necessarily pose a risk to employee health because a moderate level of stress can help people to stay focused, energetic and able to meet new challenges at work, they say that in today’s hectic world, the workplace too often seems like an emotional rollercoaster.

“When stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts causing damage to your mental wellbeing and health,” explains Dr Naresh Gupta, medical consultant at Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital. “When work-related stress is interfering with your job performance or personal life, it’s time to take action.”

Dr Gupta adds that there are plenty of things an individual can do to reduce their overall stress levels and regain a sense of control at work. “For example, one can beat workplace stress by reaching out to co-workers for support; leaning on friends and family members; supporting your health with exercise and nutrition; improving the quality of your sleep.”

Suicide prevention education at work

Although many Indian companies are still not sufficiently aware of the risk of – and how to prevent, reduce and handle – cases of anxiety and depression among employees, some employers understand the importance and benefits of creating and sustaining a mentally healthy workplace culture and place a lot of emphasis on supporting the mental wellbeing of their teams.

Sangeeta Chandran, head of safety and wellbeing programmes at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), says the company speaks directly to staff about suicide and runs a Suicide Prevention Month in September. The company also has a special initiative called TCS Cares, which focuses on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of its associates (i.e. staff). In addition, TCS offers a 24/7 helpline from which staff can obtain support and advice on managing their mental and physical health.   

Meanwhile, IT giant Infosys provides a dedicated helpline for staff as well as peer-based counselling services. The tech giant has a 24/7 hotline that offers professional counselling, and each company location has a dedicated local adviceline number. “Issues like cases of serious mental depression, substance abuse, attempted suicide and relationship issues among others have been resolved through the hotline service,” said a company spokesperson.

Although large companies have established dedicated networks and peer support groups within their businesses to ensure employees get the appropriate help on time, smaller firms are also starting to show a willingness to learn and implement a variety of emotional wellbeing initiatives ever since the pandemic began.

Puneet Manuja, co-founder and chief operating officer at YourDOST, recommends that all managers and team leaders are given suicide prevention training so they know how to recognise the signs an employee may be experiencing suicidal thoughts; understand how to start a conversation with the individual to assess their emotional state and have the skills and knowledge to support the person in the correct way. “Given the stigma that the topic of suicide holds, awareness about it is very low. This makes such training all the more important,” says Manuja.

A National Suicide Prevention Policy ‘is needed’

In order to reduce the number of suicides in India, the government needs to develop and implement a National Suicide Prevention Policy, say experts. 

“The introduction of a National Suicide Prevention Policy is indispensable,” said Dr Dalbir Singh, president of the Policymaker’s Forum for Mental Health. 

He added: “While decriminalisation of suicide through the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 has been an important first step, there is a need to focus on de-stigmatisation. The policy must bring in community-based interventions, in the light of differing socio-cultural contexts.

“In order to make the policy inclusive, there must be representation from vulnerable groups across different geographies and social structures. The narrative must also incorporate the voices of survivors of suicide to address the stigma associated with the issue.”

Meanwhile, a recent survey found that one out of every five employees in ‘India Inc’ is a victim of workplace depression. Also, the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index released in 2020 concluded that two in five working professionals in India were experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety.

Many of those suffering from stress, anxiety and depression say it is very difficult to talk about mental health issues in India, because of a lack of understanding and the taboos surrounding the topic.

Meanwhile, Shantanu Deshpande, founder of Bombay Shaving Company, prompted an outcry on social media after arguing in a LinkedIn post that new recruits at any job should work 18 hours a day for the first four to five years of their career. He added that young employees should “worship” work and it was “too early” for them to consider maintaining a work-life balance at the start of their careers.

One Twitter user said Deshpande was justifying a “toxic work culture” at a time when “mass lay-offs by Indian start-ups has become a norm”. Another user pointed out that Deshpande had not said he would “pay extra” to those employees who work longer hours.

“Companies have a tendency to exploit people who do [long hours]. In many cases leading to an early burnout, ending in people jeopardising their career,” the user wrote.

Following the widespread criticism of his comments, Deshpande added a caveat to his post. “Yikes, so much hate for 18-hour days. It’s a proxy for ‘giving your all and then some’,” he wrote.

Deshpande added that people wondering about the work culture at his company were welcome to talk to his employees.

Deshpande’s comments come at a time when the term ‘quiet quitting’ has become a common term on social media. The phase means doing only what your job demands and nothing more. It started with a video by an American TikToker who advised “work is not your life”.

Team building exercises

One possible solution to work-related stress and employee isolation is to introduce team building and fun activities to the workplace. In fact, some large IT companies have introduced roles like ‘Chief Fun Officer’ – a senior HR position responsible for helping employees relax through fun and engaging activities with their colleagues.

Meanwhile, the online retail giant Amazon has launched two new leadership principles designed to create a healthy work environment. The first is to ‘strive to be the earth’s best employer’, which encourages leaders to lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. The second is ‘success and scale bring broad responsibility’, which reminds leaders to be humble and thoughtful about the effects of their actions and be accountable to local communities, the planet, and future generations.