Factors influencing suicidal attempt among the agrarian community of central Maharashtra

INTRODUCTION: Attempted suicides occur 8–20 times more frequently than completed suicides. Attempted suicides are just the tip of the iceberg of the completed suicides, now a universal phenomenon. Several factors such as financial constraints, altercation among family members, and easy availability of pesticides have been attributed as the common factors for attempted suicide among the rural population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: On this background, we evaluated all the cases of attempted suicide admitted to our rural medical college during a period of 1 year. Details of sociodemographic profile, mode of attempt, and reason for the attempt were evaluated. All the cases were administered Beck's Depression Inventory. Factors influencing suicidal attempts among farmers and nonfarmers were analyzed using suitable statistical methods. RESULTS: Out of a total of 117 cases of attempted suicide, only 21% of the cases were farmers. Majority of them were males and were married. The main mode of attempt was poisoning. The common psychiatric diagnosis was adjustment disorder followed by depressive disorder. CONCLUSION: Although the study was conducted in a rural setup from an agrarian background, the majority of the cases were of nonfarmer. The most common mode of suicidal attempt among farmers as well as nonfarmers was pesticide ingestion owing to its easy availability among the agrarian population. Although the most common reason for attempt among the nonfarmer population was interpersonal problems, indebtedness still remains the most common reason for farmers. Attention of policymakers is drawn toward two important aspects: policy on the sale of usual pesticides and policy for the farmers to overcome loss in farming.