Thiruvananthapuram: One person is killing himself every hour in Kerala as the State tops the country in the rate of suicide which has touched an appalling high of 29.7 deaths per lakh of population against the national mark of 11.2 per lakh and the global average of 14.5 per lakh.

With mental illness being the prime reason for high suicide rate, the "God's Own Country" is also the largest market for psychotropic drugs.

Incurable physical illnesses, alcoholism, adjustment disorders arising from family tensions, unemployment and large scale migration of male population also contribute to the alarming rise in suicides, according to State Mental Health Authority (SMHA).

Taking a serious view of the situation, the Government has recently launched a project called Kerala Integrated Scheme for Intervention of Suicide (KRISIS) for effective implementation of suicide prevention schemes, Dr D Raju, Secretary, SMHA, said.

The farm districts of Idukki and Wayanad topped in suicides in 2003, recording suicide rates of 52 and 47 per lakh respectively.

In the case of drought-hit Wayanad, from where quite a few cases of farmers' suicide were reported recently, the rate had leaped from 40.6 per lakh in 2002 to 47 per lakh in 2003.

The Muslim-dominated Malappuram marked the lowest suicide rate of 13 per lakh, where the influence of religion and availability good social support systems are believed to be the reasons for better social health.