Elderly suicide in India: A critical media analysis

• Author Details:   
• Pravati Dalua
• Chittaranjan Behera ^*

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Background: This study seeks to critically examine the ways in which elderly suicide is represented in Indian media, particularly through newspaper narratives. Drawing on critical perspective, the research interrogates how these narratives are constructed, what ideological underpinnings they reflect, and how they align with broader structural realities of contemporary society.

Materials and Methods: Through an in-depth analysis of 29 media-reported cases, the study identifies six dominant narrative frames: (i) Suicide as a tragic end, (ii) Financial distress, (iii) Suicide as personal crisis, (iv) Commercialising tragedy, (v) Stigmatising and individualising tragedy, and (vi) Medicalization of social suffering. These frames are then interpreted within the broader context of neoliberal restructuring to offer an alternative and critical perspective on elderly suicide in India.

Result: From a policy standpoint, the study calls for a more critical and nuanced media discourse on suicide while addressing the structural inequalities that underpin suicide more broadly and amongst the elderly in particular. 

Conclusion: This study highlights the need for context-specific interventions to address elderly suicide in India, considering regional and cultural variations that impact coping mechanisms. Financial distress, family conflict, and mental illness are key risk factors, but structural approaches are necessary to effectively address the issue.

 Keywords: Suicide, Elderly, Neoliberal society, Media, Death, Inequality.