23-Year-Old Woman Attempts Suicide Fearing Mother Will Die Due To Dengue

A 23-year-old woman tried to commit suicide after learning that her mother was diagnosed with dengue.

The girl was rushed to the state-run Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital in a critical condition after she consumed at least 15 paracetamol tablets and phenol to end her life.

Overview Suicide
Suicide is an act of ending one's own life and it usually results from emotional isolations and inability to adjust and cope with one's environment.

According to Dr D R Kulkarni, medical superintendent at GT Hospital, the 23-year-old was rushed to the hospital at 4 am on October 4 after she attempted suicide late night on October 3.

The girl who is a sales manager at a private bank is now recuperating in the intensive care unit and is out of danger. Her mother who is suspected to have dengue is receiving symptomatic treatment at the same hospital.

Dengue cases are on the rise since September, which led the 23-year-old to think that her mother may die of the vector-borne disease. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in September alone, 248 confirmed dengue cases had been attended to in public hospitals while 3,979 suspected patients have recorded dengue-like symptoms.

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Suicide attempts at at high-risk locations are often fatal and attract high profile media attention which can lead to copycat acts.

"It was an impulsive decision. Her mother was down with fever for almost a week. The girl was scared that she would lose her mother and decided to end her life," said Dr Sagar Mundada, resident doctor, psychiatry department.

“We have put her on anti-depressant drug Fluoxetine to make her calm and reduce anxiety. As soon as she is transferred to a general ward, we will initiate the process of counseling,” said the psychiatrist.

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Dr Madhukar Gaikwad, head of medicine unit at GT Hospital, said, “We conducted gastric lavage to flush out toxins from her stomach as soon as she was brought. She was also put on IV fluids. Just to ensure she had not consumed any sedative overdose, a blood sample was sent to P D Hinduja laboratory.”

Source-Medindia

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