Causes Of Suicide In Guyana

Suicide in Guyana “The person who completes suicide, dies once. Those left behind die a thousand deaths, trying to relive those terrible moments and understand…Why?” This is a quote by Clark explaining that suicide not only affects the person that committed it but it also affects the individuals that cared about that person. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, suicide can be defined as the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally. As of recent years, Guyana has become the world’s suicide capital, placing between first and second in ranking. In 2012, World Health Organization reported that Guyana had a suicide rate of 44.2 per every 100,000 of its population with 3.2 male suicides for each female one.

These campaigns and programs can raise awareness to the cause as well as help prevent suicide. Suicides have many effects on families, friends and teachers as well as neighbours and the community as a whole. Loved ones may believe that they neglected to respond to the person’s cries for help and feel guilty or they may carry resentment for the person for committing suicide. Suicide not only affects families and friends of the deceased it also affects the county. It affects the country because it may cause lack of workers, lower the country’s population and it may have drastic economic effects on imports, exports and production. After the increase of suicides in the country- especially amongst our young ones, the government began to take more direct actions to decrease the suicide rates. The government then launched the National Mental Health Action Plan for 2015-2020. The plan was set in place to engage the population to reduce access to the means for media coverage of suicide and foster stronger and more supportive communities and school environments and to provide selective interventions which aim to work with suicidal persons. They also launched a nation suicide prevention plan which is currently being executed with the WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Program, which is being offered to third world countries and aim to provide more services for individuals with mental,

Social media is one of the most influential instruments in the modern society, especially among youths. Social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter are widely used throughout the world by both adolescents as well as adults. On 23rd August, 2017 in which a 15 year old boy hung himself days after the death of his girlfriend. It is stated that after the girl’s death the young man became depressed and distant. After his family left him to take care of their home while they visited Suriname, they returned to find the boy hanging from the ceiling. This story was shared across social media as well as on the evening news. However, though social media raises awareness to suicide, it also has some negatives in which individuals would share gruesome images and details of said suicides. This may trigger other individuals or instill ideas into the minds of already suicidal persons. Some individuals believe that Guyana’s Ministry of Health should provide a guideline for media that reduce suicide reports overall. This would include excluding information on suicide methods, avoiding implying that suicide is caused by any single factor, sharing photos of the deceased, romanticizing reasons for suicide, etc. Instead, alternatives to suicide, warning signs of suicidal behavior and strategies to build self-esteem should be uploaded and shared.