'Media reports on suicides dangerous'

P Satish Chandra, Director-Vice Chancellor of Nimhans, felt the need to create guidelines for media on how to report suicide. “There must be a governing body to ensure matters of death are reported in the right manner,” he said.

A live demonstration depicting how a volunteer counsellor must deal with a person having suicidal tendencies was held for doctors and medical students at the institute. It was part of the workshop ‘Suicide Intervention Training and Applied Prevention (SIT-App) conducted jointly by the Psychiatry Department and the Nimhans Centre for Well Being (NCWB).

The workshop is only the first in a number of steps to be taken by the institute aimed at curbing suicides in Bangalore City.

Lakshmi Vijaykumar, consultant psychiatrist and founder of Chennai-based centre, ‘Sneha,’ said: “Most people do not want to die, they simply don’t wish to continue their life in the same condition. Volunteering to counsel is not a simple task as it requires dedication and strong will.” She was one of the facilitators of the workshop.

The workshop provided an opportunity to acquire the skills required to train people in suicide intervention and prevention.