Guyana maintains suicide prevention awareness

Sep 14, 2014 News

– NGOs/ groups host walk today
The public can hear speeches, receive advice and in-depth information about suicide prevention, and the cause of the scourge which is a relatively major issue in the country. The American University of Research in collaboration with the Caribbean Voice Incorporated, other NGOs and the government has organised a walk, scheduled for this morning, in a bid to increase knowledge of suicide prevention.
Only recently, Guyana was identified as the country with the highest estimated suicide rate for 2012. The report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) related that while estimated suicide rates are generally lower in the WHO Region of the Americas than in other WHO Regions, Guyana emerged globally, and local health workers have confirmed that the situation is one warranting concern.
Ms Jennel Williams, who is attached to the American University, said that the walk is scheduled for 07:00hours today. Participants are expected to converge at the Bank of Guyana where t-shirts could be requested.
Williams told Kaieteur News that Minister of Health Bheri Ramsaran and members of the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) are also expected to give addresses on the matter. The American University Research which comprises several psychologists, students and Counselors, has been very instrumental in addressing the issue of suicide.
A few months ago the body funded a completed research in the Essequibo region and found that many residents there cited relationship issues, peer pressure and bullying as the main causes of suicide.
University President Eton Simeon and his team of researchers found that a “lack of mental processing” was part of the root cause of the suicidal behaviour.
He had explained that many of the cases investigated- suicidal acts were usually triggered by an occurrence which caused instability in the person’s understanding and behaviour, which led to them being unable to process their situation and therefore acting irrationally or “acting out”.
The week-long survey, which was conducted on 2,370 persons in that region, had indicated the need for more research activities across the country if the matter is to be earnestly addressed.
Dr. Simeon had stated that, “a trend in the occurrence of suicide attempts,” had been discovered that persons were reacting before “stepping back” to process their circumstances. When this becomes normally, that’s when it becomes dangerous, he said, and compared it to people getting accustomed to seeing garbage across the city.
“You eventually become a part of it and it has now become accepted and it is normal….it is now the trend; and a trend is sometimes very hard to break.”
It was believed by participants that enough is not being done to address issues of suicide since the majority of those who were studied noted a lack of access to counsellors, which they believe is the biggest solution to the problem.
Another percentage saw recreational and stress relief activities as a remedy, supported by sensitization, religious intervention and parent coaching. Others saw social issues as part of the problem and thus urged political intervention into the matter.
Research has shown that a vast majority of suicides in the country are carried out with poison, while hanging is the other frequently used method.
The recently released WHO Report stated that suicide rates in this section of the world revealed an initial peak among the young; other age groups remained the same, except for a rise in elderly men.

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Guyana maintains suicide prevention awareness

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