ALARMING SUICIDAL TRENDS IN KASHMIR: AN ANALYSIS OF COVERAGE GIVEN BY THE PRINT MEDIA IN HIGHLIGHTING THE RISING SUICIDAL RATES IN THE VALLEY.

The word “Suicide” has been defined as an act or instance of taking one’s life voluntarily and intentionally; the deliberate and intentional destruction of one’s own life by a person; one that commits or attempts self-murder. An increasing number of suicides is an alarming situation and a matter of concern these days. It is a social evil and threat to mankind and humanity itself as a whole. Suicide estimates suggest fatalities worldwide could rise to 1.5 million by the year 2020. Suicide is a largely preventable public health problem, causing almost half of all violent deaths as well as economic costs in the billions of dollars, says the World Health Organization (W.H.O). About 800,000 people commit Suicide worldwide every year. The southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu along with eastern state of West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram have a suicide rate of greater than 16 while in the Northern States of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the suicide rate is less than 4. Puducherry reported the highest suicide rate at 36.8 per 100,000 people, followed by Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The lowest suicide rates were reported in Bihar (0.8 per 100,000), followed by Nagaland, then Manipur. The print media has been widely reported as having an important role in the prevention of suicide. The print media has to play a powerful role in educating the masses about suicide prevention besides reporting on such issues. Stories about suicide can inform readers and viewers about the likely causes of suicide, its warning signs, trends in suicide rates and recent treatment advances. Media stories about individual deaths by need to be covered and can result in decreased suicide rates. Suicide is a slur on Society and even State of Jammu & Kashmir has not been left untouched by the menace of suicides. It is not unusual to see the reports of suicides in daily newspapers. The purpose of the present study is to find out the role of newspapers in highlighting the increased suicide rates in the kashmir valley.