Suicide Prevention Month is marked every September. The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2030, it will be the leading cause of deaths in the world
September 12, 2011 will remain a dark day for the family of Mwamisi Muteti after losing one of their own. This is the day Muteti’s brother committed suicide.
Muteti recalls this day as one of the worst in his life.
“When this tragedy struck, it was absolutely devastating for our family and friends. My brother worked at a law firm in Nairobi. He held two degrees, and had just completed Kenya School of Law. He was awaiting results when he went into depression after he suddenly lost his job at the law firm,” says Muteti. “This was his first job. His boss would explain to us at the funeral that he had laid him off because he (the boss) was undertaking a PhD, his firm was struggling financially and he therefore didn’t have enough funds to pay him. This was devastating for my brother.”
Muteti says his brother fell into depression, though they didn’t realise how bad it was until he took his life.
“We underestimated the extent of the problem. This is the part which hurts the most. If we had known enough about depression we would have helped him,” says a sad Muteti.
His brother was 33 when he died.
Unfortunately, this is just one of many suicide cases we hear about in the country. Suicides have become so common that it’s no longer a surprise when a case is reported. The World Health Organisation’s studies on suicide estimate that up to one million people take their lives every year. These are out of the 10 million people who will have attempted to commit the act yearly.
The organisation notes that in 2012, suicide was the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally, and estimates that by 2030, it will be the leading cause of deaths in the world.
Psychotherapist and founder of the Global Trauma Project Ilya Yacevich says several things can make one commit suicide or attempt to do so. She however singles out trauma and compounded stress as major reasons.
“When someone goes through some sort of traumatic experience like assault, sexual abuse, bullying, and a tragic accident or something major, then they’ll definitely be affected in a certain way,” she says.
Yacevich adds that a build-up of many ongoing stressful things can also become very overwhelming, and it would be really hard for a person who has not developed a coping mechanism.
Yacevich explains that compounded stress and or trauma most times lead to depression which can make one want to commit suicide. She says some of the red flags include being easily irritable, lack of concentration and a drastic change in one’s behavior or personality.
“If someone has had a significance change in their personality or behavior, for example, if they used to be a fun loving person or interested in certain activities and then all of a sudden they really change and become more withdrawn and isolated and try to avoid the people they like and don’t want to do the activities they liked, then there’s something wrong,” she says.
She further argues that people who are prone to commit suicide also have feelings of helplessness, worthlessness and also feel like life won’t get better. Others are no longer able to keep up with their ordinarily normal day-to-day activities while others have difficulties in sleeping.
Yacevich says relatives and friends can help such people by keeping a close eye on them and noting when there are sudden changes in their behaviors. She explains that other things one needs to look out for are hopelessness, anger, withdrawal or wanting to be isolated among others. She says some people even talk about wishing they were dead, or killing themselves. Others, she adds, have a suicidal plan already.
She however warns that there are instances where the victim hides their depression and pretends that everything is fine when it’s not.
At this point, Yacevich says only very close family and friends will be able to note the change in behavior. She also believes that when the depression is too severe, one needs medical or professional attention. She says this is especially important when one has actually attempted suicide before.
“If there is no intervention, it can get worse. Medication can be very helpful sometimes in serious cases,” Yacevich explains. “If the person has had a prior suicide attempt, that’s an extremely suicide case that requires professional help. Talking to loved ones just isn’t enough at this point.”
Director of mental health in the Ministry of Health, Dr David Kiima, agrees. He says those people, who go ahead and attempt to commit suicide even after an intervention from loved ones, need to be referred to specialists.
“These are the ones with severe depression. When they attempt and fail, they will look for an even better way of hiding and completing their attempt. Such people need serious help,” he says.
Dr Kiima says the government has trained community health workers to help identify people who are extremely stressed or depressed with suicidal tendencies. He believes this will assist them get the help they need in good time.
“People don’t just wake up one day and decide to commit suicide. There are some characteristics that can be detected, hence the reason why we have community health workers. If that person’s family and community can spread the word, a lot of suicides can be prevented,” he says.
He adds that they have interventions from the community level, all the way to the national level.
He says sometimes the dispensaries in the communities are not well equipped to help such individuals hence the need for them to go to the next level, where there are better ways to help them get rehabilitated.
Dr Kiima warns however that suicides don’t only affect the older generation. He says children as young as 10 are also committing or attempting to commit suicide.
He is of the opinion that children easily commit suicide without people noticing their intention in good time because society tends to overlook them due to a misconception that they don’t have stress.
“Young people are struggling with a lot of things just like adults. They have identity crisis, they feel disillusioned by society, there’s peer pressure, there’s pressure in learning, sibling rivalry, problems at home between their parents, some have a problem transitioning from primary to secondary school while others can’t understand why some of their peers are more privileged than they are. This is a lot of pressure on a child,” says Dr Kiima.
His advice to parents, guardians and teachers therefore is to be very keen as they are the only ones who can detect a problem in the young ones.
Attempted suicide is punishable by law in Kenya. Kiima however says his department is trying to look into ways of decriminalising it, arguing that suicide is a mental health issue and not a criminal one.
He says: “Suicide isn’t intentional, that’s why we want the law to allow the testing of a person’s mental capacity, so that instead of being criminalised, they can be given the help they need.
“We want the prosecution and the courts to be aware so that before sentencing someone who has attempted to commit suicide, they are aware that some have a disease of the mind and need help instead of punishment.”
Because many people having psychological problems want to stay anonymous as they seek help, mental health ambassador Sitawa Wafula launched Kenya’s first and only free SMS helpline last year, in an attempt to make mental health information and support accessible.
The helpline, 22214, also provides psychological support to those with suicidal thoughts and want to be helped.The helpline, she says, has received a lot of hits since inception.
Wafula is not alone. After the death of his brother, Muteti launched a project dubbed ‘Let them Live’. He is working with clinical psychologist and trauma expert Dr Gladys Mwiti, to create awareness on depression and suicide. He is determined to help people suffering from severe depression get help before resorting to taking their lives.
“Following the loss of my brother, I made it a lifetime commitment to reach out to people who have psychological needs and assist them find help,” says a determined Muteti.
Muteti and Mwiti hope to create a toll free call centre through which people suffering from depression can call and get the counselling they need.
“While the call centre is not set up yet due to some challenges that will be surmounted with time, I receive many calls, messages and emails from people who need help. I will always direct them to psychologists such as Dr Mwiti or counsellors in other areas.
We have created a portal that avails information on the sources of help people can have in Kenya, of qualified and registered psychologists and counselors and how they can be reached,” he says.
He adds that this information will be uploaded once approved by the necessary authorities. He believes that this will help many people.