Who is More Suicidal?A Study among Cancer Patients with Special Reference to Tripura

The broad objective of the present study was to examine suicidal tendencies among cancer patients. A group of 100 cancer patients (Male =50 and female=50) was covered in the study and they were selected purposively from the Regional Cancer Institute, Agartala. Data were collected by Background Information Schedule and Suicidal Tendencies Inventory. Three hypotheses were formulated and they were verified by applying suitable statistical tests. Findings revealed that suicidal tendencies of cancer patients and normal population of the same age group differed significantly (p<.01) which further indicates that cancer patients have lost hope in life and wish to end their lives. Suicidal tendencies of cancer patients across chronicity of the disease also differed significantly (p<.01) which again revealed that the cancer patients who were suffering from this deadly disease for more than one year possessed less suicidal thoughts as compared to the cancer patients who diagnosed recently (less than one year). However male and female cancer patients did not differ significantly in regard to their suicidal tendency.