Every Life Matters.
So Does the Person Trying to Save It.
Help fund doctoral research that could change how India trains psychologists in suicide prevention.
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QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) is a globally recognized suicide prevention training that teaches participants how to identify warning signs, support someone in crisis, and connect them with professional help. In just a few hours, you can gain practical skills that may help save a life.
Become part of a growing community committed to prevention, awareness, and compassionate action.
More About The Research
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Your contribution is helping train professionals who will go on to support hundreds of clients throughout their careers. This is not a one-time impact, it compounds.
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This fundraiser is being supported by Khejdi, a Jaipur-based community mental health initiative.
For the duration of this campaign, 100% of the profits from all featured product sales will be directed towards supporting a PhD research project on suicide prevention.
By choosing these thoughtfully made products, you are helping support work that can inform better mental health care, training, and support for people in distress.
How can you help
The Numbers Are Hard to Ignore
Around 740,000 people die by suicide every year — that's one death every 43 seconds. It is one of the most preventable causes of death in the world, and yet it remains one of the most neglected.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds globally. Close to three-quarters of all suicides happen in low- and middle-income countries — including India.
Closer to home, the picture is just as urgent.
India recorded 1,70,746 suicides in 2024. That is roughly 468 people every single day. One every three minutes.
The suicide rate in Indian cities, at 16.3 per lakh population, is higher than the national average of 12.2. The 18–30 age group is the most affected. These are students. Young professionals. People just beginning their lives.
What This Research Is Doing
This study is developing and testing a culturally informed training module on suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention designed specifically for early-career psychologists working in the Indian context.
About 100 early-career psychologists across India will go through this programme. The research will measure the effects of the training, what they learn, and how their clinical practice changes. The findings aim to support policy-level recommendations for making suicide competency training a mandatory part of psychology education in India.
The research uses a rigorous mixed-methods design, has received ethical clearance from the Research Conduct and Ethics Committee (Institutional Review Board, Christ University, CU: RCEC/00688/08/25), and upholds the highest standards of research ethics and confidentiality.
The Gap Nobody Talks About
When someone is struggling with thoughts of suicide, we hope that if they reach out to a qualified psychologist, they will be helped.
But here's the hard truth: Our educational institutions do not adequately train many mental health professionals to respond to suicidal crises. The required kind of specialised training is simply not part of most psychology education programmes in India.
Research shows that years of clinical experience alone do not build competency in suicide prevention. You need targeted, structured training. And right now, that training is not reaching the thousands of early-career psychologists who are sitting across from distressed clients every day.
This doctoral research project aims to change that.
Who Is Behind This Research
Jyoti Sharma is a Counselling Psychologist and former Chartered Psychologist recognised by the British Psychological Society, UK. With over a decade of experience, she has worked across schools, hospitals, prisons, aviation, and the maritime industry with organisations including NHS London, Samaritans London, Fortis Healthcare India, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and QPR Institute India.
She is a licensed QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Instructor and has delivered suicide-related trainings for the Indian Army, IITs, helplines, seafarers, and mental health professionals across the country. She has supported individuals through suicidal crises both face-to-face and on 24/7 helplines in India and London.
Jyoti is currently a full-time doctoral scholar at Christ University, Bengaluru, pursuing her Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology with a focus on Suicidology. Her research is supervised by Dr. Elizabeth Thomas (Professor, Christ University) and Dr. Vaishali Raval (Professor, Miami University, USA). The evidence-based training program has been validated by five experts — two from the US, two from India, and one from Australia.
A note from Jyoti, the researcher behind this work:
"This research is not just academic for me. I have my own lived experience with suicidality. Despite being in therapy, my well-qualified psychologist lacked the training to adequately assess risk or develop a safety plan. This research is my attempt to ensure that no person experiencing suicidality is left unsupported due to gaps in clinical training. However, as a full-time doctoral research scholar, funding support is crucial for me to be able to conduct and deliver this training programme at the scale and rigour it requires."
Questions?
Drop us an email at mrigtrishna@khejdi.org
Research suggests that for every person who dies by suicide, 20-30 attempt it, and 100 still carry the weight of suicidal thoughts alone. Behind each number is a human being.
Thank you for being part of this.
If you or someone you know is struggling right now, please reach out to iCall (9152987821 - 10am to 8pm) or TeleManas (14416 - available 24/7)
Research Results
We believe that research should be accessible to the communities that support it. Once the study is completed and the findings are available, we will share updates and key insights on this website so that supporters can learn about the outcomes and impact of the research they helped make possible.
ContACT
mrigtrishna@khejdi.org
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