Economic hardship blamed for increase in suicide cases

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The number of suicide cases in Bandung has been on the rise lately with 12 cases in the city since last month, Bandung Police said.

Police said the amount of cases in the municipality was much higher than the same period last year where only one suicide was recorded.

Similar increases were also found other regencies in West Java. In Garut, Ciamis and Tasikmalaya authorities reported six suicide cases during the past three months. Only one suicide was reported in each regency during the same period last year.

The most recent suicide happened on Monday, polling day for the legislative election. That day, Willy, 49, took his own life by drinking poison in the room he rented on Jl. Dadali in Bandung, about 15 meters from a voting station.

The incident followed another last month in Cianjur when an elementary school student, Nurdin bin Adas, took his own life after problems in his family. He was found hanging from the ceiling in a house belonging to his brother in Cianjur.

Bandung Police chief of detectives First. Insp. Anissullah Ridha said on Tuesday many people in Bandung were believed to have committed suicide due to economic hardship and family problems.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Masguntur Laupe said several people, most over 60 years of age, took their own lives when they became intolerable because of illnesses such as tuberculosis and asthma.

According Bandung Police data, 60 percent of people who committed suicide did so by hanging, 30 percent by drinking poisons, while others killed themselves by cutting arteries, stabbing themselves in the stomach and jumping into deep rivers.

Most of them had attempted suicide two or three times before, Anis said.

Teddy Hidayat, a senior psychiatrist at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, said in most cases people took their own lives because of economic hardship. "They think they have no future, they are stressed and frustrated, so they commit suicide," Teddy said.

He said the rising number of people committing suicide was strongly correlated to the number of people who suffered from depression. If more people suffered from depression, there would be a rise in suicides.

"The number of patients suffering from depression at Hasan Sadikin Hospital has risen 15 percent since January this year, compared to the same period last year," Teddy said.