Suicide and race in Guyana: We do not live single-issue lives

Savitri Persaud was born in Guyana and spent part of her childhood in Moblissa, off the Linden Highway; and in Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara. She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Social and Political Thought at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her doctoral dissertation examines discourses of disablement, mental health, and violence in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Discussing suicide in Guyana is a complex and urgent issue. Al Jazeera’s The Stream recently dedicated an episode intended to explore the high suicide rate in the country. I was in the company of three other panelists who were invited to speak on the issue. When asked if there was any one part of the population that is more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and suicide, I responded by saying no and that given the history of racial tensions in Guyana, we should be cautious of attributing suicide to any one racialized group alone, but instead look at how suicide is a symptom of larger social, political, and economic problems in Guyana. One of the panelists later indicated that 80% of the reported suicides are carried out by Indo-Guyanese. I interjected and acknowledged her point – that there are higher rates reported in Indo-Guyanese communities. I am aware of these statistics and should have prefaced my earlier remarks. I admit it is crucial to recognize these high numbers among Indo-Guyanese if we are to comprehensively address Guyana’s high suicide rate. My overall point, however, was to assert that we must also be vigilant and careful in our discussions to avoid sentiments and practices that might attribute suicidal behaviour and suicide to any one ethnic group on the grounds of essentialisms – where suicide might come to be viewed as an issue that is inherent to the IndoGuyanese experience, that “this is just something Indians do” or that “this is just how Indian culture stay”. Because of the short nature of The Stream, it was difficult to thoroughly explicate this. The conversation was, at times, a passionate one where my fellow panellists expressed great concern and demonstrated incredible resolve in tackling the high incidence of suicide in Guyana.

My response was not intended to dismiss these numbers or the examination of race; nor was I, as some have said, “defending my race”. Yes, there are higher suicide rates reported in Indo-Guyanese communities. However, it is too simplistic and deterministic to boil down causes to any one category of difference/identity, which – according to some of my research participants – is sometimes expressed by the general population. Through my discussions with psychiatrists, family doctors, psychiatric nurses, community workers, NGO leaders, and religious leaders in Guyana, some reported hearing opinions from the general public that referred to suicide as an “Indian people thing”, but as helping professionals they emphasized that suicide is a multifaceted issue, which extends through and beyond discussions of race. Indo-Guyanese should not be talked about as a monolith. They are a diverse population: across gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, religion, place of residence and so on. It is, therefore, important to go into these communities and to learn with and from them, not only talk at them. We must acknowledge too that these communities also have the solutions to the issues that affect them, but that they may lack the necessary resources to thoroughly address these problems. To better understand the issue, I believe it is crucial to examine the intersectionality and co-occurrence of a multitude of factors. This requires asking specific questions and examining racism and discrimination; mental illness, disability, and associated stigmatization; health disparities; rural living conditions; domestic and gender-based violence; economic marginalization; drug and alcohol abuse; personal, interpersonal, and intergenerational trauma; the role of religion and spirituality; feelings of isolation and hopelessness; HIV/AIDS stigma; the use of poisonous pesticides in agricultural communities; and discrimination against LGBTQ communities, among other factors.

There was an important 2014 study on suicide and suicidal behaviour conducted in Guyana by researcher Serena Coultress of Maastricht University and supported by the Guyana Foundation. In a Stabroek News article reporting on the study, it was found that “in Guyana, the role of ethnicity in suicidality has been overemphasised.” According to the findings: “Participants in the study were said to have also highlighted their belief that the suicide rate may be higher among the Amerindian population, but this remains undocumented due to their largely isolated locality. Additionally, when suicide is recast to include ‘suicidal behaviour’ inclusive of reckless behaviour, the differentiation between AfroGuyanese and Indo-Guyanese was less obvious… ‘Although problematic gender roles were found to be amplified within Indian and rural communities, it was impossible to say with any certainty whether these