532 students died by suicide in a year. How to build mental health?

Students aged between 13 and 19 years are more prone to commit suicide

As many as 532 students of schools, colleges and universities across Bangladesh have committed suicide in 2022, according to a study.

At least 64 percent or 340 of them were school students and the number of college students who killed themselves stood at 106, while 54 were madrasa students, Aachol Foundation, a voluntary social organisation, said in its report on Friday.

In 2022, 86 students from different universities killed themselves, according to the report.

The study gathered information from more than 150 national dailies, local newspapers, and news websites, said Farzana Akter Laboni, team leader of the Research and Analysis Unit at Aachol Foundation.

DHAKA TOPS STUDENT SUICIDE CASES

Dhaka division has the highest cases of school and college students committing suicide, accounting for 23.77 percent of the total cases among eight divisions.

At least 63.90 percent or 285 of the school and college students who committed suicide were female students, while 36.1 or 161 were male students.

ADOLESCENCE AGE IS THE RISK FACTOR

Students aged between 13 and 19 years were prone to commit suicide, according to the report. As many as 405 students, who died by suicide in 2022 were teenagers. That was 76.12 percent of the total cases.

The survey also mentioned that the age of 43 students who committed suicide ranged from 7 to 12 years. That was 8.08 percent of the total cases. In this age group, 46.52 percent were female students, while 53.48 percent were male students.

Experts believe that students tend to commit suicide as they fail to cope with the physical and mental changes as they reach adolescence, under adverse circumstances.

REASONS FOR SUICIDE

The students who killed themselves faced different complications before they ended their lives, according to the survey. The report attributed the highest number of suicide cases to “emotional conflicts”. In some cases, however, the reason behind suicide could not be determined.

Some other factors behind such cases were reported. At least four students committed suicide after inappropriate photos spread on the internet. As many as six students killed themselves when teachers insulted them. Seven students committed suicide after they were stopped from playing video games. At least 27 students ended their lives after failing their exams, while 10 died by suicide for failing to get mobile phones and six for motorcycles.

GOVERNMENT MEASURES

The government has taken different measures, including the drafting of the National Mental Health Act and online training for teachers, in an effort to improve the mental health of students.

The government plans to employ a psychologist in every school in each district. In 2023, the authorities included a chapter on mental health in the health protection book for grades six and seven to help students build their mental strength.