A qualitative study on perspectives of undergraduate professional students on suicide and recommendations for an effective suicide prevention program

Background: Suicide has become a leading cause of death among 15- to 39-year-olds. Recent data suggests that one student commits suicide every 60 seconds in India. One of the suicide preventive strategies adopted is the introduction of a crisis helpline for students but the effectiveness of this support in preventing suicide remains questionable. Our study aims to find out the perspectives of students on suicide and their recommendations for an effective suicide prevention program. Method: A qualitative design with focus group discussions was used to collect data. A universal sampling technique was adopted and the data were analyzed using the framework method. Results: A total of 830 students were divided into 70 groups with each group having 12 to 15 students participating in the focus group discussion. Several themes and subthemes emerged from the discussion. Overall, students had a poor understanding of people who attempt suicide, elaborated the factors instigating a person to make a suicidal attempt, barriers to access help and their views on effective crisis intervention service. Conclusion: The study identified student perspectives on suicide and the challenges perceived by the students for the effective implementation of a crisis intervention program for suicide prevention.