- Police concerned with rising trend of suicide in Nairobi
- At least four cases are reported weekly in the city
Image: THE STAR
A 21-year-old man killed himself using a chainsaw in the Kasarani area, Nairobi.
The deceased tried to chop off his neck using the machine on Tuesday morning.
The man had picked the machine from a workshop run by his father and went with it to their house where he committed suicide.
The motive of the incident is yet to be established. The body of the man was picked up and taken to the mortuary.
Police said they were called to the scene and picked up the body to the mortuary.
Detectives in the city say they have noticed a spike in suicide cases, which are reported to them.
“We receive such incidents almost on a daily basis. Some have motives such as quarrelling in houses and it is worrying,” said a police officer involved in investigating such incidents.
A report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said at least 500 people committed suicide in separate incidents in three months (March-June) of 2021 in the country.
The data released by the DCI indicated that men were more prone to committing suicide than women.
Experts say more women are likely to try to kill themselves but male suicide methods are often more violent, making them more likely to be completed before an intervention.
Men are also conditioned by society not to speak out or even cry, but with increased awareness, health experts say the trend can be reversed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says such cases are attributed to joblessness, the breakup of relationships or a death, academic failures or pressures, legal difficulties, financial difficulties, bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.
WHO also rates suicide as a serious global public health issue that is among the top 20 leading causes of death worldwide.
Globally, close to 800,000 people die of suicide every year with an estimated 78 per cent of cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
Kenya ranks position 114 among the 175 countries with the highest suicide rates.
A task force on mental health established Kenya has a high burden of mental illness due to ill health, psychosocial disability and premature mortality with huge gaps in access to care.
The team found out that the majority of populations in Kenya associate mental health and mental illness with negative narratives leading to a low focus on the importance and benefits of mental health and well being.
The team also recommended that mental illness be declared a national emergency of epidemic proportions, to prioritize mental health as a priority public health and socioeconomic agenda.
It recommended that mental health be provided with adequate financing in line with international best practice
In Kenya, it is estimated that one in every 10 people suffer from a common mental disorder.
The number increases to one in every four people among patients attending routine outpatient services.