Is boredom forcing Tharis to end their lives?

“The deaths of two of my kids soon after birth, having no money to buy new clothes and food for my young wife, and nothing to do at this hell-like place were the basic reasons that compelled me to gulp down a bottle full of pesticide to end my life. I don’t know whether I’m fortunate or not because I survived, but many people are ending their lives now in Tharpakar in these circumstances,” says Dilshad Ahmed, a young resident of village near Mithi, Tharparkar, who attempted suicide due to extreme depression.

An unprecedented increase in suicides has been witnessed in different areas of Tharparkar and the adjoining areas, which are under the grip of extreme poverty due to a years-long drought, lack of basic facilities, especially drinking water, and as the absence of any amusement and entertainment facilities.

Alarm bells started ringing in the provincial government quarters after health officials and district authorities noticed during the last two years the rising suicides in different Talukas and villages of Tharparkar, where hundreds of infants and children are dying annually due to malnutrition, absence of basic health facilities and birth-related complications.

“Around 97 people committed suicide in Tharparkar in 2017 while 71 killed themselves in 2018. A large number of people are in addition to them who tried to end their lives but failed, while many were prevented by their friends and family,” revealed Senator Karim Khawaja, chairman of the Sindh Mental Health Authority, who recently visited the district to assess the situation and present its recommendations to the provincial government.

Although the provincial government is trying its best to hide this tragic phenomenon, local administration and senior police officials feel compelled to take up the growing number of suicides with government officials as this was proving to be another major challenge for them following infant mortality in the most undeveloped area of Sindh.

A psychiatrist by profession himself, Senator Khawaja took a team of eminent psychiatrists to Tharparkar a couple of weeks, spent a few days to understand the main reasons for suicides, and is now preparing a report.

“As a mental health specialist, I believe that the last stage of depression compels a person to commit suicide, but in the case of Tharparkar, there are multiple factors which are compelling them to end their lives. We had a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in Tharparkar to understand the causes and formulate a strategy to control this situation,” he said.

He said the Sindh chief secretary had issued directives to all the district health officers (DHOs) to collect data on suicides in the entire province as circumstances similar to those in Tharparkar also prevailed in some other areas of Sindh. He added that the data would help them and the provincial government to tackle the situation.

An official of the Sindh police claimed that over 500 Tharis had committed suicide during the last two years and blamed the situation on growing poverty due to an extreme drought, lack of basic facilities of life, including drinking water, in addition to the absence of any entertainment facilities.

“As per our record, around 211 persons committed suicide in entire Tharparkar while over 150 made attempts to end their lives, but either they failed or were saved by their loved ones. It is a growing trend as people are considering it as an option in Tharparkar after losing everything,” the police official said on condition of anonymity.

Is boredom to blame?

“Boredom as a result of lack of amusement and entertainment facilities has emerged as one of the leading causes behind growing suicides in Tharparkar,” Dr Iqbal Afridi, eminent psychiatrist and head of psychiatry at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), told The News.

Dr Afridi, who is also the president of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society, believes the people of Tharparkar have been poor for centuries and are facing a natural calamity-like drought, but in this era of information, they are having no entertainment facility and this boredom coupled with poverty is compelling them to end their lives.

“There are several issues in Tharparkar. There is no drinking water, no amusement activity, no livelihood and no education. Life starts in the morning and ends at sunset with nothing to do. It is a difficult life and there is no attraction in it.

“Depressed mood, interest loss and energy’s deficiency, which I call as ‘die’, is the reason for growing suicides and we need to address the issues that are compelling people in Tharparkar to die,” he said and added that unfortunately there were no psychiatrists at Tharparkar’s hospitals for early detection of suicide symptoms and to provide mental help to people in trouble.

According to Dr Afridi, 70 per cent of people start giving indications weeks before committing suicide and they are very visible indications, saying if people are made aware of these indications, they could help people in avoiding taking their lives.

“We would like to extend our services in the form of seminars and workshops for training personnel of both public and private sectors to prevent such incidents and also recommend employing mental health professionals in various organizations, especially the vulnerable sectors.”