Ghanaians continue to commit suicide on a daily basis for a variety of painful and woefully tenuous reasons.
Relationship breakdowns (divorce), graduate unemployment, and financial stress are now Ghana's top three major reasons of suicide, especially among young people between the ages of 16 and 35, according to the country's Mental Health Authority (MHA).
According to Maclean Kwofi of Graphic Online, these issues have recently become more popular among young people in particular.
They were primarily students, unemployed recent grads, and a small number of employees, according to the authorities. 902 suicide attempts were reported in Ghana in 2021, an increase from the 777 incidents that were documented in 2020.
The Mental Health Authority has shown that the actual suicide occurrences reported for the same time period increased sharply from 69 cases in 2020 to 86 instances in 2021.
worrying circumstance
At the WHO Director General's Special Initiative for Mental Health's inauguration on Wednesday (July 6, 2022) in Accra, Prof. Akwasi Osei, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MHA, emphasised that this alarming scenario demanded prompt action to help stem the spike.
Despite not being the main cause of death in Ghana, he said that the country's mortality statistics were significantly impacted by suicide.
Despite not being the main cause of death in Ghana, he said that the country's mortality statistics were significantly impacted by suicide.
"Unlike traffic accidents, suicide may be avoided if we understand what causes people to commit suicide and are able to put the appropriate safeguards in place. By doing so, we might stop many suicides and stem the rise in their numbers.
So, he said, "Suicide is a big problem for us, and we need to work to avoid it."
Recognizing the problems
Prof. Osei said that after reading the 2021 figures, he decided to look into and determine what the contributing causes of these concerning circumstances were by calling the MHA's suicide line.
According to him, the problems that have been found to be behind the dramatic increase in suicide cases over the past five months are startling.
Suicide policy is necessary.
According to the CEO, the nation has to create a suicide policy that would specify the methodical strategy to manage suicide and concerns that are associated to it.
We have our own suicide support line, which anybody may call at any time, but it costs money, so many people are unable to use it when they most need it.
Therefore, he said, "we require a policy that will guarantee that we have a support desk, toll-free number, and that people have a fundamental awareness of suicide."
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