…of suicide and suicide attempts

Dear Editor,

I would be glad, if you could give me a moment to talk about suicide. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the country. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the world.

When a person dies by suicide, the effect is felt by family, friends and the community. Suicide is when people harm themselves with the aim of ending their lives and die in the process.

News of a middle-aged man jumping from the Tamale flyover in an apparent suicide attempt on Monday, August, 29, 2022, gives credence to the need to take mental health and matters of suicide seriously. A similar incident occurred on the Graphic Road in March 2018 when a young man believed to be in his 20s fell from 40 feet to his death from the overpass linking the area to Kaneshie.

Persons of all ages can be at risk of suicide. The main risk factors are; depression, chronic pain, having been released from prison, financial difficulties, relationship troubles among others.

To stop suicide and suicide attempts, there are various steps that can be taken on individual basis and these include promoting socio-emotional life skills in teenagers, restrict access to suicide-related tools like firearms and pesticides.

Jennifer Yayra Opare,

University for Development Studies,

Nyankpala Campus.