NEW DELHI: A total 819 military personnel have committed suicide under extreme stress in the last five year, the Ministry of Defence told Parliament on Monday. This comes to one suicide every alternate day in the armed forces.
In a reply to MP AA Rahim in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the Army recorded 642 suicide deaths while the Air Force and the Navy registered 148 and 29 incidents, respectively.
Such a high number of suicides by serving personnel has worried the armed forces which are continuously making efforts to evolve measures to improve stress mitigating mechanisms, the minister said.
“An elaborate mental health programme has been formulated and is in place since 2009. Various mechanisms to observe and identify the personnel with mental health problems, including depression and suicidal tendencies, are in place,” he added.
Bhatt also pointed out that detailed guidelines for psychiatric examination, diagnosis and treatment of service personnel and their families suffering from psychiatric disorders have been promulgated by the Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services.
Personnel at high risk of stress are identified and counselled by unit Commanding Officers, Regimental Medical Officers and Junior Leaders.
All personnel returning to unit after leave are interviewed, counseled and medically examined by the Regimental Medical Officers.
(Suicide helplines -- Maithri, Cochin: +91 239 6272; Sumaitri, New Delhi: 2338 9090, Sneha, Chennai: 91-44-2464 0050, 91-44-2464 0060, Aasra, Mumbai: 9820466726, Fortis MentalHealth: 8376804102)