SYNTHETIC SUICIDE AIDS

Tapan Kumar Mahato*, Vinod Kumar Chandel, Ashok Singh Baghel 

Each suicide is a unique tragedy that cuts short the life of a person and has far-reaching consequences for their loved ones and the communities in which they reside. More than one hundred thousand people take their own lives each year. Professional/career issues, feelings of loneliness, abuse, violence, family issues, mental diseases, alcoholism, financial loss, chronic pain, etc. are just few of the many factors that might lead to a person taking their own life. Suicide can be committed through a variety of methods, including hanging, burning, taking sleeping pills or hypnotic medications, ingesting poison, etc. Higher doses of sleeping drugs, which are typically used to treat insomnia and to lengthen the sleeping period, can be fatal, and common household pesticides like rat killing drug/chemicals. These are manmade substances with chemical components; suicide is attempted using lethal amounts. According to a recent report by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Maharashtra has the highest rate of suicide in the country. Suicide data is gathered from police reports submitted to NCRB. The five states with the highest rates of suicide in 2021 are Maharashtra (13.5%), Tamilnadu (11.5%), Madhya Pradesh (9.1%), West Bengal (8.2%), and Karnataka (8%). This paper provides a brief overview of suicide, different types of suicide, rising suicide rates, causes, and mode/means used for suicide, focusing particularly on the usage of sleeping medications (sedative & hypnotic pharmaceuticals) and poisons like pesticides.