Turning the tide on suicide

The country’s grim statistics on suicide should trouble every conscience.

In the first half of this year alone, 175 lives were lost to suicide, an alarming increase compared to previous years.

In 2024, 134 people died by suicide, a staggering 40 per cent increase over 2023, while more than 1,170 others attempted to take their own lives. 

These are brothers, sisters, children and colleagues whose deaths were preventable. According to the acting Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, Dr Eugene K. Dordoye, the rise partly reflected improved reporting after suicide was decriminalised in 2023.

The underlying causes of suicide are depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse, especially alcohol and opioids such as tramadol.

The youth, the very group with the greatest potential to drive our national productivity, are the most vulnerable, he stressed.

 It is unacceptable that our future is bleeding through avoidable practices and preventable deaths.

The call for a national strategy cannot be louder. Dr Dordoye has urged that prevention, awareness creation, early treatment, and sustainable funding form the backbone of this strategy.

His suggestion of a special “sin tax” on alcohol, cigarettes, gaming and betting, with proceeds channelled directly into a Mental Health Fund, deserves serious consideration.

The Daily Graphic does not see this as punitive; it is rather pragmatic. Nations that ring-fence funds for mental health interventions have reaped dividends in the lives that have been saved and healthier populations.

The socio-cultural dimension to mental health cannot be overlooked.

Dr Erica Dickson of the 37 Military Hospital rightly notes that stigma and ignorance continue to compound the problem of mental health patients.

In some communities, suicide survivors are beaten or shamed, a tragic display of misunderstanding that only drives despair deeper. 

Education must cut through these harmful cultural attitudes.

Without widespread mental-health literacy, even well-designed policies risk becoming white elephants.

Collaboration with agencies such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is vital to take awareness into every home, school and workplace.

The double-edged sword of substance abuse and suicide also demands urgent attention.

Many distressed individuals turn to alcohol or cannabis for self-medication, while others find that such substances trigger or worsen their mental distress.

Tackling drug misuse, especially among the youth, therefore, becomes a frontline strategy for suicide prevention.

Partnerships with the ministries of Youth and Sports and Education must aim to provide healthier outlets for energy, creativity and frustration than destructive substances.

The good news is that solutions exist, and they work. 

Sri Lanka, for instance, saw suicide rates fall dramatically after it banned the most lethal pesticides once widely used in agriculture.

Australia’s national suicide prevention framework, which combines hotlines, counselling, community education and workplace programmes, has created pathways for people in crisis to access timely support.

In the United Kingdom, training teachers, clergy and even police officers to act as “gatekeepers” has expanded the safety net, ensuring that cries for help are recognised early.

These examples prove that change is possible where will and investment align. In our own context, media houses also bear responsibility.

Sensational headlines, graphic details and careless language fuel contagion. 

Responsible reporting — highlighting help, recovery and available resources — can save lives.

Content curators must embrace this obligation not as censorship but as a public health duty.

Ultimately, suicide prevention is not the responsibility of psychiatrists and psychologists alone. 

Every family, every community and every workplace have a role to play. We must foster environments where people can speak about distress without ridicule.

Our schools must begin to teach coping skills as deliberately as they teach mathematics.

Employers should provide mental health policies that respect human dignity.

These actions cannot be deferred. Society can no longer dismiss suicide as an individual weakness or a family shame. It is a societal failure.

Fortunately, however, it is a solvable one. Restricting access to lethal means, funding mental health sustainably, breaking stigma through education, and building support networks will save lives.

For every life spared, a family is kept whole, a young person retains his or her future, and the nation preserves its human capital.

Only responsibility, urgency and collective resolve will deal with this emerging monster.