A suicide prevention programme in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region involving community health workers has reduced the prevalence of depression and suicidal tendencies in the area covered, said a study published in Lancet Psychiatry on Thursday. The Vidarbha Stress and Health Programme or VISHRAM, which was implemented over 18 months from September 2014 to October 2015, used community health workers for the first line of treatment, instead of trained psychiatrists and counsellors. The researchers then interviewed 1,887 subjects on mental health indices. They found that the prevalence of depression fell by 22% in the one year and prevalence of suicidal thoughts fell by 51%. People with suicidal thoughts are at a higher risk of committing suicide.

 

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