Suicide of a farmer amid COVID-19 in India: Perspectives on social determinants of suicidal behavior and prevention strategies

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted not only physical health but also mental health and wellbeing globally. These impacts can be critically higher among marginalized individuals and populations like farmers in India. While most of them live in poor socioeconomic conditions, recent psychosocial challenges due to the COVID-19 lockdown had brought endless suffering in their lives. In this article, we describe a case of suicide of an Indian farmer amid COVID-19 lockdown, who had debts and could not find laborers during the lockdown leading to a helpless situation committing suicide. In India, nearly 16,500 farmers commit suicide each year, which can aggravate if psychosocial and economic challenges like COVID-19 continues to affect them. We recommend psychosocial interventions among vulnerable farmers alongside strengthening economic support and institutional measures alleviating socioeconomic challenges and minimizing disparities in social determinants of suicidal behavior to prevent suicide among Indian farmers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Epidemiology of mental health problems in COVID-19: a review

“…Another study by Liang and colleagues found that participants working as an employee in the local enterprises (OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.09-5.09) had an elevated risk of poor mental health outcomes compared to other occupational groups 36 . Also, lost economic opportunities due to lockdown were reported in a suicide case of a farmer in India, which informs socioeconomic challenges that may critically impact mental health among marginalized individuals 43 . Moreover, people with property loss and adverse economic conditions are more vulnerable to mental health problems 35 .…”

“…COVID-19 has also influenced suicidal behavior among vulnerable individuals in different contexts. Several case studies based on news media reports are found, where individuals committed suicide in fear of COVID-19 31 – 33 , 43 . These cases from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have shown how a perceived susceptibility and fear of getting infected has resulted in suicidal attempts among individuals, highlighting a high mental health burden of this pandemic.…”

Risk Factors and Effects of the Morbus: COVID-19 through the Biopsychosocial Model and Ecological Systems Approach to Social Work Practice

“…The increment of suicide rate during and after a pandemic is not highly unexpected, but more common (Mamun & Ullah, 2020). COVID-19 is associated with suicidal behavior (Gonzalez-Diaz, Cano, & Sanchez, 2020;Goyal, Chauhan, Chhikara, Gupta, & Singh, 2020;Hossain et al, 2020;Jani, 2020). Like preceding health outbreaks such as the 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome, the present COVID-19 appears to be leading to higher suicidality (Griffith & Mamum, 2020).…”

COVID-19 and suicide of an army soldier in India: perspectives on psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior

“…This case provides several insights on the psychosocial epidemiology of suicidal behavior amid COVID-19, which may inform future research and interventions for preventing suicidal behavior in similar individuals. First, the fear of COVID-19 may induce psychosocial distress aggravating suicidal behavior, which is observed in earlier cases of suicide amid COVID-19 (Hossain et al, 2020a). This may be one of the leading factors associated with the given case as well.…”