WORKING TOGETHER TO PREVENT SUICIDE

Sir,

It has been estimated by the World Health Organisation that at least one person commits suicide every 40 seconds in the world. 

There are three kinds of people; those who make things happen, those who watch things happening and those who wonder what happened. 

Suicide cannot be automatically prevented by any of these kinds of people but there is a need for acting jointly. 

During this year’s Suicidal Prevention Day, the Eswatini Mental Wellness Programme Director, Sanelisiwe Mdlovu, said she noted that COVID-19 brought a sense of loneliness, stress and anxiety in people’s lives, which often leads to depression and suicide. 

‘Working together to prevent suicide’ was this year’s world theme of commemorating Suicide Prevention Day. 

In simpler terms, suicide means ending your own life. Stress, loneliness and anxiety have been listed among factors that lead to suicide. 

The emergence of COVID-19 has increased chances of the occurrence of these factors in one’s life. 

The brain is usually a victim of all the factors since it operates 24 hours for seven days, so it is important to deal with the root cause of the problem of suicide. 

You cannot use power to prevent a person from committing suicide but you need to deal with their mind. 

Suicide can be prevented if the next person scrutinises the actions of the person who is attempting to commit it and acting swiftly and accordingly to prevent the action. 

Truth

According to an unknown author, the shortest distance from a problem to a solution is ‘truth’, so to successfully deal with suicide, you need to know the root cause of the problem.

The loss of jobs that has been caused by COVID-19 is another problem that leads to suicide. 

A person doesn’t just lose a job and quickly commit suicide, but there are stages that they go through until the decision of ending their life is attempted. 

The Eswatini Mental Wellness Programme director highlighted in her speech that the current situation had caused stressful financial situations for many people who lost their source of income. 

As we are working together to prevent suicide, it is our duty as a nation to intensively deal with the issue by scrutinising the actions of people next to us.

Loneliness has been named as one of the deadly factors that accelerate suicide. When a person is lonely, there are great chances of creating novel ideas. 

It is worth saying that novel ideas are sometimes disastrous. When a person is hedged in a problem they see suicide as the only solution. 

The Eswatini Mental Wellness Programme director once said; “If we take the time to be kind to other people, we can reap the emotional dividends. It can really make a difference and especially for people who are vulnerable or struggling.” 

I’m highlighting this to show that we really need to work together to win the battle against suicide. To prevent my suicide I need you, to prevent your suicide you need me, to prevent their suicide they need us, together we can. 

Njabulo M. Bhembe

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