By Vanessa Cort
AS the world celebrated both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month last month, the tragic death by suicide of a young married woman turned public attention, once more, to those who take their own lives.
The statistics worldwide tell us that more women attempt suicide while more men actually succeed in completing the act and that teenage girls have been dying by suicide more often than previously.
The Centre for Suicide Prevention in the US asserts that, “Depression disproportionately affects women: they are two times more likely than men to suffer from depression,” adding that women are also more likely than men to experience physical and mental health problems.
While this may be so, Lakshmi Vijayakumar, writing for the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, calls for more research on suicidal behaviour in women, particularly in developing countries and suggests that suicide prevention programmes should “incorporate women-specific strategies”.
However, some common factors have emerged as being major contributors to suicide or suicide attempts among women. These include eating disorders, problems with fertility and infidelity and physical, emotional and sexual abuse during childhood.
Declaring that wife abuse ranks as “one of the most significant precipitants of suicide”, Ms Vijayakmar also notes that, “Abused, shamed and powerless wives take their own lives to shift the burden of humiliation from themselves to their tormentors”.
This would certainly seem to be the case with the woman who took her own life in the Brickdam Police Compound, as it has been alleged that her spouse was guilty of infidelity. Indeed the act of damaging her husband’s car, which caused her to be in the Compound, indicated the level of her frustration.
And Guyanese Psychotherapist, Shane Tull, feels that this woman’s action was a cry for help, shared by so many women who question their self-worth. He points to the fact that women are often oppressed and diminished by the lack of value apportioned to them, which can be compounded by poverty and domestic abuse.
“We have to look at the (negative) messages women receive from an early age,” the clinician says, also observing that society often dismisses attempted suicide in women as “drama and attention-seeking”.
Ms Vijayakumar concurs with this view when she states, “One reason for the lack of investment in female suicidal behaviour may be that there has been a tendency to view suicidal behaviour in women as manipulative and non-serious.”
However, the experts agree that education, economic security and empowerment of women should be an integral part of any suicide prevention strategy aimed at women.
And an extract from writer, Nikki Banas’ “Walk the Earth”, gives encouragement to all:
“This is for the ones who are struggling right now. This is for the ones who have been having a rough day or week or even year, the ones who feel like this storm will never end. Keep fighting for you. Not for your family but for you. Keep fighting because deep down you hold a tiny voice that knows you were meant for far more than this sadness and pain you are feeling. Keep fighting because the person you will be on the other side of all this is cheering for you so much. Keep fighting because you will get there. And it will be worth it.”
