The ripple effects of suicide
A SPATE of recent suicides and attempted suicides in the country has drawn attention to the topic and that of mental health.
Recent incidents:
In May, a North West mom allegedly poisoned her husband and six children after a domestic dispute. She then committed suicide.
Also in May, a Glenwood woman took her boyfriend's firearm, walked to a nearby park and threatened to kill herself, firing shots into the air.
In April, a Durban man shot a policewoman and a former girlfriend, before turning the gun on himself.
Also in April, a 17-year-old boy from Hammanskraal died by suicide at his school hostel after allegedly arguing with his teenage girlfriend.
Actor Ceagan Arendse died on February 14. His family said he lost his battle with depression.
In December, a 22-year-old woman was saved after she tried to jump from the Hilton Hotel in Durban.
‘Lack of suicide data from lowand middle-income countries’
The African News Agency (ANA) reported that the results from the first study on suicides in countries during the Covid-19 pandemic found that incidents had decreased or remained unchanged.
This is despite the pandemic having profound mental health consequences for many people.
It sourced data from 21 high-income and upper-middle-income countries between April 1 and July 31 last year.
Researchers believed the decrease could be explained by some of the steps that governments took to assist their citizens with mental health and financial services to mitigate the potential impact of lockdown measures.
Also, that the pandemic may have heightened some factors that are known to protect against suicide, such as community support of vulnerable individuals and a beneficial collective feeling of being in it together.
While South Africa’s suicide statistics were not included in the study, ANA interviewed Professor Jason Bantjes from Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
He was part of the International Covid-19 Suicide Prevention Research Collaboration that conducted the research.
Bantjes said: “The lack of reliable current suicide data from low- and middle-income countries makes it impossible to know what is happening in many parts of the world.
“It is too soon to know what impact the pandemic has had on suicide rates in South Africa, but we should not assume suicide rates will necessarily increase until we have seen and properly analysed the data.”
“We need to continue to monitor suicide statistics in South Africa, so that we can make informed evidence-based decisions about how to respond as a priority.”
Left behind
A study published in 2008 in the Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, titled The Impact of Suicide on the Family, noted that suicide could be a devastating experience for those left behind. It said that while suicidology had understandably focused primarily
on the prevention of future suicides, survivorship, as an area of study, was relatively neglected.
Often cases where lives could not be saved, many questions remain unanswered for the loved ones who are left behind, experts say.
According to the report on www. researchgate.net, because suicide occurs within families, the focus on the aftermath of suicide within families is an important next step to determine how to help survivors.
“Individual survivors are at risk for complicated grief reactions, mental disorders and even suicides. Although the available literature is a good beginning, much remains to be done before we can really claim that survivors are receiving the help that they need,” the report noted.
In 2010, a study by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center found that losing a parent to suicide made children more likely to die by suicide themselves and increased their risk of developing a range of psychiatric disorders.
A report on www.hopkinsmedicine. org said that how and when the parent died strongly influenced their child’s risk.
“Losing a parent to suicide at an early age emerges as a catalyst for suicide and psychiatric disorders,” said lead investigator Holly C Wilcox, a psychiatric epidemiologist.
Those who lost parents to suicide were nearly twice as likely to be hospitalised for depression as those with living parents, said the report.
Trauma
Rakhi Beekrum, a Durban counselling psychologist who has published research on suicidal behaviour in South Africa, highlighted some of the psychological traumas faced by those dealing with loss.
She said the loss of a spouse was difficult to deal with.
“Losing a spouse to suicide further complicates the grieving process. Spouses often require professional help due to the trauma, guilt and stigma. They often also have to deal with questions and speculation from others.
Guilt is common as they often feel that they should have been able to prevent the loss. Post-traumatic stress is common in those who have lost a spouse through suicide.”
She said children who had lost a parent to suicide were likely to experience feelings of abandonment, which might show up later on in their lives in other relationships.
“Other than the grief and emotional trauma, the practical impact is a further complicating factor. It might mean moving home or abandoning studies due to finance or moving closer to the surviving parent.
“Children often seek answers to make sense of the loss.
“There is sometimes guilt – the way in which this presents is often dependent on age.
“Younger children may wonder if this could have been prevented if they were better behaved, for example. Older children may wonder what they could have done to prevent the tragic outcome.
“Another factor is the fear of losing the other parent or someone close to them.”
Beekrum said the death of a child was probably the most difficult loss to deal with as most parents expected that their children would outlive them.
“Losing a child to suicide exacerbates the emotional trauma. Parents are often left with questions.
“Guilt is common as parents see their roles as guardians of their children. Other family relationships are inevitably affected.
“Marital strain is not uncommon in cases where one parent feels that the other could have prevented the suicide.
“In other circumstances, grief and guilt may lead to partners withdrawing from each other.
“Relationships with surviving children may be altered, where parents are either overprotective of, or withdraw from, the other children.”
Beekrum said suicide complicated the grieving process because it left more questions and less closure.
“Grief is always difficult, but it is easier to accept an illness that was outside of a person’s control, as opposed to acknowledging that a person chose to take their own life. The inability to make sense of the loss complicates the grieving process.”
Stigma
“The stigma associated with suicide could complicate the grieving process, leading to traumatic grief,” said Beekrum.
“Survivors of suicide may feel guilt and shame, which may lead to further isolation.
“Mental health issues are more common due to the (perceived or real) lack of support.”
Beekrum said destigmatising suicide needed to start with destigmatising mental illness.
“If mental illness is understood and destigmatised, more people would seek help and support.
“This help-seeking is what is required to prevent suicide.
“Stigma begins to decrease as we talk openly about these topics. There exists a myth that talking about suicide will lead someone to suicide. However, talking about mental illness and suicide will serve to acknowledge these as real and significant challenges. We need to promote help-seeking behaviour.
“We must also beware of our own false perceptions about mental illness and be mindful of toxic positivity, that is assuming that it’s easy or possible for positive thinking to cure mental illness.” |