NEW DELHI: The entire focus of
combating farmers' distress is on the
financial aspect while the emotional
side of the trauma is being
completely overlooked, says a top
consultant psychiatrist.
"The politicians are focussing solely
on announcing monetary relief. But
they should also speak to farmers in
the language of healing. They need
to say: we are with you and will help
you tide over this crisis, come what
may. That's very important. But after
the suicide, every political party was
only scoring brownie points on tv,"
says psychiatrist Avdesh Sharma.
Failed crop caused by unseasonal
rains has led to widespread misery
among farmers. Many sink into
depression. Gajendra Singh, 40, who
committed suicide at Jantar Mantar
on Wednesday, was a farmer's son.
In a note found after his death, he
wrote about his crops being
destroyed.
Sharma says that in depression, a
person starts looking at life through
the lens of negativity. "When it gets
worse, he feels life can never get
better. Then he is consumed by a
feeling of hopelessness and
helplessness," he says.
During such a state of emotional
trauma, the family plays an
important buffer that prevents such
a person from doing harm to
oneself. In Gajendra's case, he was
thrown out of home by his father.
One doesn't know why.
"When you feel that the family, the
society at large, will not be able to
provide a ray of hope or any
solution, then you go into a phase of
acute depression. In Gajendra's case,
he was worried not only himself but
also about his three kids and their
future," says Sharma.
