…says Dr Util Richmond-Thomas at World Suicide Prevention Day walk

By Elvin Carl Croker

“NO more suicide, life is precious, we must live it,” chanted the over 500-strong contingent who turned up at the Mental Health Unit of the Ministry of Public Health to take part in the walk and rally in observance of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10.
Groups representing schools, NGOs, health workers and other organisations moved through the raindrops, uniformly attired in yellow caps and matching jerseys supplied by the Mental Health Unit of the Ministry of Public Health, which organised the event to spread the message that suicide is not an option.

The energetic bunch of mostly young people snaked their way through the city carrying slogans which read, “Are you alive? Then you have a purpose!!! Eradicate suicide,” “You have the power to say this is not how my story will end,” “Suicide prevention, stop the stigma” and “Hope,” before concluding the walk at the National Cultural Centre.
The walk, held under the theme: “Working together to prevent suicide,” formed part of a menu of activities planned for the day, which is dedicated to suicide prevention.
Director of the Mental Health Unit Dr. Util Richmond-Thomas, in a brief comment told the media before the walk moved off, that according to documents in the National Suicide Prevention Plan, Guyana is heading in the right direction.

She said that as of 2018 Guyana’s suicide rate fell to 18.88, which represents a drastic improvement when compared to the suicide rate of 44.4 recorded in 2014, the highest in the world at that time.

“Of course every life lost is too much, so the work is by no means finished. We have lots more work to do,” she said.

Touching on other ways to stem the scourge of suicide, the Mental Health Unit head expressed the view that more could be done by the police when a suicide occurs in terms of investigation and enforcing the laws and regulations governing pesticides and toxic chemicals. She explained that when a person commits suicide by ingesting poison, the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board should check to see if the regulations were followed, such as the method of acquisition, how it was stored etc. and if anybody was found at fault, that person should be made to answer.
“Persons are way too careless with the storage of pesticides and persons find it easy to use it [sic] to commit suicide,” she said.

Her views come in light of her disagreement with the existing laws that criminalise a person who attempts to commit suicide. She posited that the self-harm of suicide is a mental health condition and a disorder and should not be criminalised.

As such, she made a call to the public to look out for relatives and friends who are showing warning signs of suicide or depression.

“I would advise you to take that person to the nearest health centre which has personnel trained, who can adequately take care of persons with issues like this,” she said.
Among the groups at the walk were the Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention Hotline, Guyana Trans United, Youth Challenge Guyana and the Guyana Conference of Seventh Day Adventists.

Speaking on behalf of the Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention helpline, Sharon Price said the agency has been in operation since 2015 and is accessible to the public on a 24-hour basis via telephone numbers (+592) 223-0001, 223-0001-9, 600-7896, 623-4444, Email: guyagency@yahoo.com, Twitter: guyanaagency, WhatsApp: +592-600-7896, 592- 623-4444, and FaceBook: Guyana Interagency Suicide Prevention Help Line and all calls including the cell phone ones are free.

The agency which has a staff of 13 who have been trained at the University of Guyana, operates on a 24-hour basis.

Price said the agency has been receiving about six calls per day since it began operating in 2015 and views its operation as a success, since none of the persons who called in has committed suicide.

She said the rally and walk will help to sensitise the public about the suicide-prevention helpline and she was happy to be a part of it.

Her message to the public is that life is worth living and “if you are having a problem don’t be afraid to speak out, speak to a neighbour, a college a social worker, find somebody you can talk with and let them know what you are going through,” she counselled.
One of the helpline workers Cassie Baynes, said she has been on the job for just over a year and would receive about five to six calls per day.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG), Dmitri Nicholson, said that the helpline is a European Union (EU) funded project executed by Youth challenge Guyana, Merundoi Inc. Family Awareness Consciousness and nine other NGOs across the country.

He described suicide as a crisis that occurs after something happens. In that light, he said the NGO wants to ensure that service is available as widely as possible for people to be able to access the kind of mental health services they need to prevent suicide from even becoming an issue.

As such, the YCG have embarked on expanding access to counselling across the country in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10 to ensure that people who face emotional difficulties and emotional tremors can receive service in their communities and not have to travel long distances. This, he said, will reduce the vulnerability that people have to commit suicide, which is why he said the NGO is a part of the event to raise awareness about the issue of suicide.