GUYANA currently has the highest suicide rate in the CARICOM region, and one of the highest such rates in the world.This has been Guyana’s situation for some time, and it doesn’t show any sign of improving. Region Three alone has seen a documented rate of 184 persons attempting to commit suicide for last year, and this figure doesn’t include those who actually succeeded, according to Mr. Robert Singh, a Social Worker employed by the Health Ministry’s National Aids Programme Secretariat at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Singh’s responsibilities have been primarily limited to attending to persons with HIV/AIDS, STIs and tuberculosis (TB). After a week of noticing a steady stream of suicide, rape, domestic violence and child abuse cases which have not been dealt with, Mr. Singh obtained the permission of his superiors to start attending to those cases as well. But by the end of 2006, the caseload became too much for one person, and an additional person was employed.

According to Mr. Singh, suicide is not caused by one single factor, but is rather a series of factors which become too much for the person to bear, at which time that person see suicide as the only option.

The number of factors that drive someone to take his/her life are usually at least four, but can be as many as 20. It is also not something that happens just suddenly, but is rather the culmination of a process that can develop for longer than 30 days before the person takes the fateful action to end his/her life.

It first starts out as something one only thinks about. However, when things around us don’t improve, but instead deteriorate because we attract what we dwell on, the thoughts begin to turn to actually committing the act. Once the person has decided to commit the act, he/she next chooses the method of execution and the time.
At this point, the person just needs a slight push to go over the edge.

Many people who have lost a loved one to suicide have concurred that the deed itself had been preceded by what seemed to them a frivolous argument or disagreement. They often see the reason as not enough to commit suicide. And they are right, because that last argument isn’t really the reason for the suicide. Just as a fire that has been burning for a period of time doesn’t need much fuel to cause it to expand, so someone who has been contemplating suicide for a while needs only a slight nudge to commit the act. Sometimes a push is really not needed, just an opportunity presenting itself, and the person decides to commit the act then and there.

In 2009, Aliya Bulkan, a 23-year-old woman from an affluent family, jumped to her death while on a visit to the Kaieteur Falls with other tourists. Prior to that fateful moment, her family didn’t notice any warning signs. To them and everyone who had known her, everything appeared normal, until that moment when two Korean tourists who were with her on the tour saw her jump off the cliff.

Just a mere 23 days after this young woman’s death, Lisa Prashad, a 16-year-old girl who apparently knew Bulkan and had even attended her wake, shot herself, using her father’s firearm. Again, there were no outward warning signs.

Suicide is said to be a cry for help. Those who attempt suicide don’t really want to kill themselves; they do it because they don’t see any other way out of their situation. In speaking with Mr. Robert Singh, I was able to gain an understanding of what people who attempt suicide go through.

It’s easy to judge someone if you don’t understand their situation. By learning about and understanding another person’s situation, we can have more empathy for that person, and in many cases that is enough to bring them back from the brink.

According to Mr. Singh, all those who attempted suicide and then underwent the intervention programme offered by the Social Services facility at the West Demerara Regional Hospital have a 100% success record. That means none of those who went through the programme again attempted killing themselves. This can be attributed to the fact that close family and friends of the patient are also part of the intervention programme.

The intervention process can take between one and three weeks, and sometimes can take up to one month, depending on the case. Mr. Singh says that people who commit suicide don’t really want to die. Their despair slowly builds up from a low 10% of wanting to die vs. 90% wanting to live, until their ability to cope is totally depleted. At that point, the percentages change to a high of 90% wanting to die vs. only 10% wanting to live.

Government’s response
Mr. Singh felt that Government’s response to suicide in the country, and in particular Region Three, falls short in several areas, and he suggests the following steps:

(a): Treat suicide as a national priority issue, and establish a mental health unit to deal with issues of suicide similar to the HIV/Aids Unit and other health units established to deal with serious health issues.
(b): Appoint a psychiatrist in Region Three and in other regions of the country where there are high incidences of suicide, so that those who suffer from depression can easily have help without having to travel to Georgetown.

(c): Train members of different communities in intervention techniques, so that they can spot those who may be suicidal, and talk to them before they take their lives. What one says to a suicidal person, and how it is said, can make a huge difference in how the message is received by the other person.

(d): Create a suicide hotline and employ more social workers to deal with the issue.

(e): Repeal the 1930s act which deems suicide as murder, as well as train police officers to see those who attempt suicide as persons in need of help, not as criminals who should be arrested for attempted murder.

(f): Finally, monitor the activities of NGOs and other organizations who may work with suicidal persons, to see if they follow proper intervention procedures.

 Written By Jimmy Roos