As many as 150 students have committed suicide in the academic year 2017-18 across Telangana, and Hyderabad city alone has distinction of having recorded 30 suicides. Suicides are taking place at alarming level across India with one student committing suicide every 55 minutes. The issue has come to fore again when two Hyderabad girls of 10 standard committed suicide by jumping from their eighth floor apartment two days ago.
According to psychologists anxiety and depression are the principal causes for the unfortunate incidents. Hyderabad psychologists point out that at 20 percent of students in any given class are suffering from anxiety and depression due to parental, academic and peer pressure. According to media reports, which quoted Dr S Shanmukhi, clinical psychologist at Rainbow Children’s Hospital, depression and anxiety are now also affecting the students of the age of 12 and 13 year as against those of above 14 years earlier.
P Madhusudhan Reddy, President, Government junior colleges association, said 90 percent suicides recorded from Telugu states of Andhra and Telangana had occurred at the level of junior colleges.”Every year more than a 100 suicides at junior college level occur in the two Telugu states,” he said.