Thousands vulnerable to suicide: Expert
On an average, 28 people commit suicide daily in Bangladesh, while around 65 lakh people are vulnerable to suicide, said a keynote paper.
Most of the victims are females aged between 21 and 30, according to the paper.
Helal Uddin Ahmed, assistant professor of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), presented the paper at a seminar on “Role of media to prevent suicide” organised by Brighter Tomorrow Foundation at the capital's The Daily Star Centre yesterday.
The data was collected from a study conducted in 2012-13, based on WHO, police records and the National Institute of Mental Health reports, he said.
Depression, dowry, familial feud, stalking, affair and social stigma plays key roles in this regard, he viewed.
Terming the tendency of committing suicide a mental disease, he called upon all to raise awareness to prevent it.
The people more prone to suicide feel isolated from family and society, he said, adding that they have to be provided with proper treatment and counselling.
Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique said media should play a sensitive role in presenting suicide related news.
There are some international guidelines for journalists on how to cover suicide incidents, our journalists should follow that, he said.
Family members must play the pioneering role to prevent anyone from committing suicide, he viewed, adding that parents should teach their children to be compassionate and ethical so that they can grow up with self-respect.
Eminent journalist and writer Anisul Hoque said the media should downplay the news of suicide because people may get inspired to take such a drastic step seeing such news.
Media should not exaggerate any information just to increase their popularity or sales, he viewed.
Joyosree Zaman, general secretary of Brighter Tomorrow Foundation, said many times media presents distorted information to gain popularity. But such irresponsible journalism heightens the families' pain, she added.
Dr Farzana Rabin, president of the foundation, chaired the function, where AKMA Hamid, president of Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, also spoke.
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