By Ingrid Naiga, Psychologist at Safe Places Uganda
What comes to your mind when you think about suicide? Suicide is defined as “the act of intentionally causing one’s own death”, derived from suicidium in Latin which directly translates to “self-slaughter”. Globally, views and perceptions about suicide or suicidal behavior vary across cultures, communities and contexts. It is widely stigmatized and considered taboo in many societies and as such, efforts to foster empathy and increase understanding are low or non-existent. Suicide is incredibly complex and often nuanced in the way it presents in the signs and symptoms.
September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness month every year. The purpose of this observance is to raise awareness, promote understanding and challenge stigma surrounding suicide. Particularly, 10th September is World Suicide Prevention Day hosted by International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). The theme for 2024-2026 is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide” which aims to shift the culture of silence and lack of understanding to one of openness, empathy and support. With the idea of expanding dialogue about suicide, the theme calls for collective communal action, multisectoral collaboration and multistakeholder engagement to systemically address and formulate interventions to alleviate this public health crisis.
“Uganda has a high suicide rate of 18 per 100,000, ranked 17th globally and 4th in Africa for suicide,” states a 2021 report by Uganda National Institute of Public Health. The prevalence of attempts and/or deaths by suicide is higher in men than women and the most affected area (by incidence) is the Northern region of the country. A broader and more intentional discussion must happen in which the state of public mental health is wholly assessed, scrutinized and reevaluated to theorize as to the possible conditions that lead to suicidal behaviors and identify ways to prevent the outcome of deaths by suicide. Areas of concern in this discussion may include but are not limited to: socioeconomic stressors, education level, religious beliefs, mental health and illness, cultural and social attitudes, living conditions among others.
Scholars of suicidality offer different perspectives to attempt to explain its occurrence and characteristics for example; the Interpersonal theory of Suicide by Joiner, Three Step theory by Klonsky and May, Stress-Diathesis model etc. This range of theories evidences the complexity of suicide and highlights the limitations that may arise from attempting to explain all its risk factors, causes and creating prevention/mitigation strategies when considering single perspectives. To elaborate better, applying an integrative approach to understanding what underlies suicidal behavior is more effective than assigning one overarching perspective e.g., a person’s suicidal behaviors may be triggered by a combination of life-stressing events as opposed to a long history of mental illness– or both. By considering that several different factors of varying overwhelm can result in suicide contemplation and/or attempt, our scope of understanding widens as well as different opportunities for intervention can be identified.
Appreciating suicide as a communal issue rather than an individual one would greatly advance our approaches and strengthen our solidarity in tackling it. When we conceptualize suicide only through lenses of blame, shame and judgment; we effectively reduce the humanity of victims, survivors and their families. We contest about whether their experiences are valid, and if we should extend grace and empathy to them based on our own judgements, which contributes to intensifying our collective apathy towards suicidality.
Safe Places Uganda is committed to disrupting stereotypes and being your health partner in realizing mental and psychosocial wellness. We offer an extensive range of mental health care services including a program for suicide watch and emergency care. This September, we implore you to join us and the rest of the world in doing what we can to Change the Narrative!
Happy September, keep on keeping on!
For Mental Health Care, Contact Safe Places Uganda on;
0770700944 / 0782740522
