Astute steps to properly tackle Nigeria’s escalating suicide problem
The moment Jacob stepped into the sitting room, he knew something was terribly wrong. Nancy the cook greeted him but refused to meet his gaze. Ben, his elder brother was sharing a bottle of wine with Manuel his uncle. He had never seen Ben drink before. His heart sank when he saw his mum seated quietly on the sofa staring into space.
Jacob had been summoned to the family house in Lagos that morning. He was a student in one of the private universities in a neighboring state
“Your brother, Saul, jumped into the lagoon last night”, Manuel told him.
Saul had become depressed due to his inability to secure a job after four years of graduation. He had decided to end it all.
Suicide refers to the act of intentionally taking your own life. The World Health Organization, WHO, indicates that about 800,000 people commit suicide annually, worldwide.
Once upon a time, Nigerians were regarded as the happiest people on earth. Despite our perennial challenges as a people and as a nation, we doggedly refused to give up. Back then cases of suicide were rare and far between.
Sadly, the reverse is now the case. Barely a week goes by without an incident of suicide taking place. Of course, our growing adoption of the internet and social media has ensured that these suicide cases are quickly brought to the public domain. Hitherto, many of these cases might have gone unreported.
Potential causes of suicide include:
Stress
Stress is a state of being physically, emotionally or mentally tensed or pressured due to difficult situations. These difficult situations could be due to relationships, health, work, family or otherwise. Stress could make an individual nervous, frustrated or angry. We react to stress in different ways.
If not properly managed, severe stress can trigger suicidal thoughts. People have committed suicide or attempted to kill themselves after being duped, bullied, due to job loss, heartbreak, divorce and so on.
Mental disorders
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.”
People who have had traumatic experience or are under considerable stress are also at risk of mental disorder.
People with mental disorders are vulnerable to suicide. This is because they are not in full control of their emotions and thoughts.
Sadly, our country’s health sector is ill-equipped to handle these cases.
Substance abuse
This refers to the harmful, illegal or uncontrolled usage of drugs and substances like alcohol. People abuse substances for many reasons. These reasons include: mental disorders like depression, peer pressure, ignorance and so on. Studies indicate that people who abuse substances are six times more likely to attempt suicide.
Genetic predisposition
Some individuals have a family history of some of the risk factors for suicide. Factors like depression, substance abuse and ultimately suicide.
Peer pressure and societal expectations
Many of us are unduly influenced by what others think and expect from us. These pressures could be in form of marriage, finances, academic performance etc.
Failure or delay in meeting these expectations might lead to depression, substance abuse or other risk factors for suicide.
Warning signs for suicide
You should be concerned if you or any one close to you starts exhibiting these symptoms:
- Avoiding friends, family and colleagues
- Expressing death wishes
- Starts drinking heavily or misuses drugs
- Acting unusually irritated or moody
- Abrupt reduction in work or academics
Reasons why Nigeria’s suicide rate has skyrocketed
Worsening Economy
Objective evaluation of Nigeria’s economy will deduce that it has been on a downward spiral for some time. Our terrible economy can be attributed to infrastructural decay, half-baked policy making/implementation and poor decision making by our leaders.
More jobs are being lost than created while the polity is not conducive for entrepreneurship. Also remember that the cost of goods and services have skyrocketed due to inflation and the increase in fuel pump price.
The effect is that many people are distressed and depressed by their inability to take care of basic necessities and see suicide as a way out.
Terrible Health Sector
A report indicates that Nigeria has about 250 Psychiatrists. Considering our population estimated to be in the 180 million range it is obvious that a lot of people who need counselling or psychiatric support are unable to get the help they need.
Social Media & the Internet
Many of us appraise our lives based on the stories, pictures and videos posted online by others. Some of us compare our relationships, jobs and family to those of others who display theirs on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media. We seem not to realize that a significant percentage of lifestyles displayed on social media are fake and embellished.
Our growing internet presence has ensured that suicides are now brought to the forefront whenever they occur. When assailed with news about suicides and considering our penchant for copying both the negative and positive, emotionally fragile Nigerians have begun to see suicide as a way out.
Steps to tackle Nigeria’s increasing suicide rate
1. Nigerians need to be their brother’s/sister’s/friends’ keeper
We need each other. Try to reach out to your friends and family once in a while. Even if you can’t solve their problems, your compassion or advice will go a long way.
Some people have actually laid the blame for suicide at the door of the victims. According to them, something as “simple” as heartbreak or job loss is not reason enough to kill yourself.
“Have compassion and empathy in your heart. Many people are suffering deep emotional anguish beneath the surface of their lives, and smile even as they hurt inside.” – Jim Palmer
We need to understand that we were not in the shoes of these people. Even if you feel you have experienced what they did, you need to realize that we are all different.
The same job loss that pushed you into entrepreneurship might make another person to go into criminal activities or contemplate suicide.
Heartbreak might turn Samson into a Casanova and Freya into a femme fatale while Kelvin becomes depressed and Jennifer becomes suicidal.
We also need to watch how we react to peoples’ situations. Minding your business goes a long way.
- Do you really have to ask Mathilda why she hasn’t given birth?
- Matthew isn’t less of a man or person because he is unmarried at 50.
- I know Camelia is as big as three persons put together. Do you know if she wants to slim down and is trying her best to do so? If you are really interested in her welfare but can’t find a non-hurtful way to advise, please leave her alone and mind your business.
- So your son, daughter, brother or sister can’t get a job despite all the money you spent sending him or her to school? Please don’t compare him to his friends who have all gotten good jobs. Rather, keep encouraging him or her.
2. Revamp our health sector
Government should improve our health infrastructure and take care of the welfare of health practitioners. Nigerians should learn that there is nothing wrong with seeking the help of a psychiatrist, counsellor or psychologist. We need to stop looking down on mental health patients.
Your mental health is as important as your physical state.
3. Improve the economy
Many of the people who contemplated suicide or actually went ahead to did so because they were frustrated by unemployment or financial insecurity. They were so distressed by their inability to make ends meet that they decided to end it all by jumping into the lagoon, hanging themselves with rope or taking a sip of sniper.
An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Our government needs to take concrete steps to improve the economy by providing the right environment, infrastructure and policies.
4. Make it harder to access lethal substances like sniper
Few days ago, on Twitter, a debate ensued about the effectiveness of banning sniper, a popular pesticide which has been utilized ty suicidal victims.
A school of thought felt that banning the substance was putting the cart before the horse. They were of the view that tackling the causes of suicide such as unemployment was the better strategy.
Another group was of the opinion that banning sniper and other lethal substances would reduce the incidences of suicide. Their chief proponent, Dr. Joe Abah, buttressed his point with the fact that Sri Lanka is on record as having significantly reduced suicide by placing a ban on lethal pesticides.
Both groups have a point. However, I am of the opinion that banning or censoring access to sniper and other lethal substances should be included as part of a wider strategy to tackle suicide.
Sometimes, the difference between contemplating suicide and actually carrying it out lies in the immediate availability of a suitable lethal substance such as sniper.
Sniper and other lethal pesticides are in circulation for a reason. Mosquitoes, cockroaches, pests and other vermin would have a field day if these substances are not available. Less lethal alternatives need to be introduced and awareness created. The government needs to ban these more lethal brands and create awareness about the less lethal options.
5. Setup a suicide response team
Hardly a week goes by without news of suicide or attempted suicide in Nigeria. These are the ones we hear. There might be others.
Government needs to declare a state of emergency and set up suicide response units.
These response units should be made up of psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, healthcare practitioners, security forces, information technology professionals and volunteers.
Their terms of response would include:
- Be the first point of contact for any incidence of suicide or attempted suicide
- Utilize technology to crawl Nigeria’s online space and highlight content or posts indicative of depression or suicidal thoughts. Some of the people who committed suicide gave hints online.
- Develop and manage a database of suicide related cases
- Analyze the database to discern the reasons behind suicides and proffer possible solutions
- Advise government on steps to take
- Periodically educate the public on reasons why suicide shouldn’t be an option
Conclusion
I understand that things are tough. People will leave us. Situations beyond our control will assail us. Life happens. I encourage us to persevere and keep striving to survive and thrive.
Tough times don’t last but tough people do.
Let us become more emotionally intelligent and increase our abilities to deal with life’s situations. Let’s seek for help if we feel over-burdened.
Together, we shall overcome this scourge!
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