From the work of artist Maanas Udayakumar themed on drowning, which he says was done when he was battling depression and thoughts of suicide
In 1996, psychiatrist Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar went house by house and interviewed the families of 100 people from Ashok Nagar in Chennai, who had died by suicide.
“I learned from the exercise how primary factors, secondary factors, and a trigger can come together to result in a suicide,” says Dr Lakshmi. “Most of all, I learned how to design possible prevention strategies.” It would later become India’s first ‘psychological autopsy’ — a process that reconstructs the life and state of mind of the deceased.
The data, for instance, revealed that one in 10 had changed his/her religion or religious practices just a few months earlier. The Ashok Nagar data also showed that eight in 10 who died by suicide appeared to have had a mental health condition, but only one in 10 had sought psychiatric help. A 2022 study of the psychological autopsies of 35 deaths by suicide by forensic medicine specialists at AIIMS Bhopal, nearly three decades after Dr Lakshmi’s, shows nothing much has changed. Almost 80% of those who died had displayed depressive symptoms, 50% had a history of substance use and nearly 40% showed past suicidal behaviour, but only 11% were treated for psychiatric illness. A 2026 study in the Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, which analysed NCRB’s 2024 data, found that student suicides were usually attributed to academic pressure, but in reality, examination failure accounted for less than 10% of the deaths among those below 18 and only 1.6% among those aged 18–29. It helps identify risk factors (depression, substance use etc), and devise ways to encourage help-seeking In India, it is reported to have been used to analyse the Burari deaths of 2018, where 10 family members were found hanging in the their home You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in Chennai Stay updated with the latest Chennai news.
Because they want answers, as they believe it will help with the healing process; sometimes police seek assistance when circumstances of death are ambiguous, “In some cases, families approach experts for a psychological autopsy.
“Science hardly ever looks at spirituality, but I realised as psychiatrists we cannot ignore that changes in religious behaviour or loss of faith may indicate mental turmoil,” says Dr Lakshmi. Unfortunately, says Dr Lakshmi, psychological autopsies are still at a nascent stage in India, despite the country reporting one of the highest numbers of suicides globally. “In our interviews with family, close friends, colleagues and roommates, we found that even among those being treated for depression, the family was not taking it as seriously as they would a physical ailment,” says Dr Jayanthi Yadav, professor of forensic medicine and toxicology at AIIMS, who co-authored the study. “A psychological autopsy helps us understand what could have led to the suicide,” she says. Some deaths followed an acute crisis, some were an impulsive act, says Dr Yadav. In India, psychological autopsies usually enter public discussion only in high-profile deaths, says Somabha Bandopadhay, assistant professor at Xavier Law School, Kolkata. But India has no specific legal framework for it,” says Bandopadhay, who co-authored a case study reconstructing the circumstances surrounding the suicide of a young adult. Understanding patterns after death can help with prevention, but first, there must be willingness to have conversations about suicide, says Dr Shiva Prakash Srinivasan, head of youth mental health at Chennai-based Schizophrenia Research Foundation (Scarf). “There is a myth that if we talk about suicide, rates will go up,” he says. “While schools acknowledge that self-harm and suicidal distress are serious problems, we are asked to handle the subject ‘gently’, a euphemism for ‘don’t talk about it’,” says Dr Shiva Prakash.
Thirty years later, the lessons continue to guide her practice. Recently, when one of her patients, known to be religious, started talking about how he had thrown away pictures of gods from his home, she recognised it as a sign of distress. “We talked more about it, and he admitted to having experienced suicidal thoughts. “Most had consulted a general physician. It highlighted the importance of educating general practitioners, who are almost always the first point of contact, to spot signs of suicidal thoughts. “We interviewed more than one informant separately to reduce the risk of relying on a single recollection. Relatives sometimes recognised the signs only after speaking to the researchers. Others were preceded by prolonged depression, suicidal thoughts, withdrawal or indications that the person had been contemplating death. “But by refusing to speak, we are fostering the taboo around something that needs to be addressed. It may, for example, help prevent common assumptions. Family problems, mental illness and relationship issues made up the larger share. Psychological autopsies, the authors say, can reveal how risks differ between schoolchildren and higher-education students, who need different support systems in terms of teacher sensitisation, family engagement and counselling. Scarf piloted STOPS (School-based Intervention using Theatre of the Oppressed for Suicide Prevention) in Tamil Nadu to help adolescents discuss academic pressure, family conflict, relationships, self-harm and thoughts of death. The programme also trains adults to recognise changes in behaviour (such as persistent sadness, loss of interest in favourite activities, changes in appetite, social withdrawal) and connect a student with help. “Unless we talk about it, how do we identify who needs help? How it works Psychological autopsy (term coined in the 1950s by US-based psychologist Edwin Shneidman) is an interview-based process that pieces together circumstances, relationships, mental and emotional state of mind leading up to the death It is usually conducted by a medical officer, forensic specialist, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric social worker, and police between one and six months after the death (to reduce bias and so memories are more accurate); it draws on accounts from family and friends and medical and psychiatric history and suicide notes. Download the TOI App.