No one knows when life's journey comes to an end unless one makes a voluntary but undesirable choice for making it happen. Why do people, particularly those in the prime of youth, think enough is enough and there is no point carrying on? It may vary from person to person but one underlying feeling is the meaningless of life. Indeed, revolutionaries and terrorist gangs would sacrifice their lives instead of allowing them to be caught by regular security forces during a confrontation. When they find no escape route, they instantly take their own lives in order to save the members of their group or organisation. Death is preferred to divulging information about their underground revolutionary group or criminal gangs.
Against such a background, the rising suicidal trend among the youth and teenagers in Bangladesh is a grim reminder of a social malaise calling for serious attention. Report has it that two students of Barishal University committed suicide in a little over past six months. The last one was reported on July 21. Overall, eight students of that university brought an end to their lives in the past six years. The year 2024 was the worst year ever with four students taking their lives and 11 others trying to follow suit. Prompt intervention by roommates and fellow students saved them somehow.
According to Aachal Foundation, the total death toll from suicide was 403 and of them, 77 were university students. By any standard, this is a high incidence. In the UK's prestigious universities like the Oxford University and the Cambridge University, suicides among students were reported. The Oxford University had 21 such deaths between 1970 and 1996 whereas at the Cambridge University the toll was 36 between 1970 and 1996. Between 2016 and 2023, 1,108 student deaths were recorded, averaging 160 a year. Depression and stress over academic works were thought to be the cause of such suicides. In Bangladesh too such incidents occurred in the 70s, 80s and 90s, but those were rare or not reported on account of social stigma.
So the idea that counselling can cure the malaise is not based entirely on facts. The two prestigious universities in the UK have such arrangements but could not prevent such unnatural deaths. True, higher studies put pressure on students and not all of them are mentally strong enough to withstand the stress and go ahead with their academic works smoothly. Those who struggle with their studies need care and help from teachers right from the beginning when the weakness is exposed. But university teachers have little time to monitor and help such students overcome their weaknesses.
Before alienation takes hold, students should be encouraged to master the courage to pursue their studies with devotion and commitment. If teachers cannot take the responsibility, the role of psychologists proves crucial. There is a need for keeping open the communication between and among teachers, students and psychologists. In this age of virtual communication, inter-person communications have more or less become a casualty.
In case of Bangladesh, students cannot turn to psychological counsellors because such arrangements are yet to be mandatory for universities. Extraordinarily sensitive or emotional students experience mental breakdown quite easily. Handling them with care is all the more necessary. Families, friends and teachers should mark the early symptom of such mental breakdowns. The earlier the symptoms are observed, the better the chance of reviving the victims' spirit and bringing them back to normal life.
University should emphasise sports and cultural activities in order to divert depressed students' preoccupation with death. Music, songs, debate, recitation and drama can heal mental wounds better than even clinical treatment. Book reading sessions, classical films and arrangement of lectures by reputed guest speakers can also lift the spirit of depressed souls. So, there is a need for creating a cultural ecosystem where there is no room for licking one's wounds.
Students studying at the university level have come to this stage through a competitive system. They can be convinced by their friends and teachers that life is worth living than bringing an end to it. The hurdles they crossed are a lesson for them to overcome the present crisis they are confronting. It is in their own, their families' and even the nation's interests that they must complete their study -- a mission worth pursuing. Life is sweeter when they win over the crises. They must look forward to realising their dreams no matter how difficult the present situation is. Let life be celebrated with all its ups and downs.