Mumbai: The Mumbai police will lend a helping hand to its policemen in terms of psychological assistance to reduce stress levels and prevent untoward incidents such as suicide.
According to mental health experts however, it isn’t sheer impulse that leads a person to end his or her life. There are several factors, which grow over a period of time and contribute to the decision. The extreme step comes when the line is crossed and the person is no longer able to bear the stress.
In 2017, 17 policemen attached to various departments of the Mumbai police committed suicide due to various reasons. Family problems, other than marriage-related issues, were among the major causes of suicide. The latest figure for the first four months of 2018 showed four policemen to have committed suicide. Investigation into the matter revealed that a majority of the policemen who committed suicide belonged to the age group of 35 to 45 years.
Paying heed to the increasing number of suicide cases, the Mumbai police will start psychiatric sessions for policemen who might be facing problems on the professional or personal front.
Dr Yusuf Matcheswala, who works at hospitals attached to Mumbai police, told The Asian Age, “A policeman committing suicide can be driven by various factors, and it never is the last resort. Depression across age groups in the force is not easily identified or fixed early, which leads to the taking of drastic steps, not to forget easy availability of lethal weapons.”
Dr Matcheswala added, “Poor working conditions, back-to-back duties, and lack of structural reforms has increased stress levels, causing depression and suicide. To curb this, regular screening for mental health problems during a physical check-up is a must, and that is what the project is trying to achieve.”
A top police official on condition of anonymity said that the department had not carried out structural reforms to tackle such issues.
“Proper screening of individual policemen at the police station level should be carried out to fix the tendency of suicide at an early stage,” he said.
