Suicide, depression and mental health awareness

Tribune Online
Suicide, depression and mental health awareness

A follow-up investigation on recent suicide deaths revealed that a lot of Nigerians have been battling with depression or other forms of mental health illness, leading to withdrawal from everyone and the strong feeling of ending it all. The menace of suicide is becoming a worrying reality. In 2018 the country had the fifteenth highest suicide rate in the world (and seventh in Africa), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As elsewhere, in Nigeria there are many different factors that lead people to feel suicidal. These include mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. These are often combined with negative stresses caused by issues such as economic hardship, marital issues, poor academic performance, among others. Hassanah, a lawyer in Bauchi who expressed suicidal thoughts after her husband’s demise said: “I lost my husband who confessed to me on his deathbed that he infected me with HIV,” I felt really bad afterwards and I wanted to take my own life as a way out.” Hassanah regularly receives help from a mental health expert and she is leading a balanced life at the moment.

Six containers of ‘poisonous’ tomato paste from Iran arrive Nigerian ports

Health experts have identified depression and mental health as the real causes of suicide and not the consumption of pesticides. Studies have shown that willful self-poisoning has become an increasingly common response to emotional distress and depression, especially among young adults, calling on the Federal Government to increase the level of education on mental health awareness, set up toll free lines and counselling centres where those battling depression and other mental health crises can call or visit for help. Medical health advocates and a growing number of public analysts have argued that the recent call to curb the rising misuse of pesticides for suicide and restricting the easy access to such products, though in order, does not remove the need to focus more on proper education and enlightenment programme on mental health.

They opine that people will find other means of putting themselves in serious harm’s way by ingesting other poisonous substances. More recently we have heard reports of people jumping into the Lagoon, some hang themselves while others stab themselves, all in a bid for easy escape from reality. Public enlightenment on mental health and its attendant symptoms, as well as adequate provision of intervention centres and personnel nationwide, is the way to go.  Truth is, restriction of dichlorvos and other brands does not exclude the possibility of other mentally-distressed people substituting them for other methods that are just easily available. For suicide prevention to be highly effective, it should be implemented in conjunction with other suicide prevention strategies which will include, but not restricted to, strengthening economic support, identifying those at risk, access and delivery to suicide care, creating protective environments, connectedness, teaching coping and problem-solving skills, amongst others.

A senior official from Croplife disclosed that public enlightenment is essential to increasing awareness about product usage, helping to dissuade users from wrong usage and application. According to him, in 2018 Croplife and NAFDAC did a nationwide training and sensitization workshop on the proper usage of this product in storage. He disclosed further that the training was done across all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The programme which was attended by farmers, retailers and several other people along the chain helped to properly educate people about the appropriate usage of dichlorvos.  The programme is still ongoing and Croplife is designing another programme with NAFDAC to tackle misuse in the home. Dichlorvos has been in use in Nigeria for over five decades as a crop pest management tool that has tremendously contributed to the increased yield and quality of crops until the current wave of misuse against the producers’ recommendation.  A restriction of this product, especially in small packs, will certainly deny the millions of small farmers the opportunity to use the products and this can have serious impact on food production in Nigeria.

• Isaac, a social commentator, writes in from Lagos

Suicide, depression and mental health awareness
Tribune Online