By Malcolm Mulope
The day before her 16th birthday, Thembisa* attempted suicide.
Thankfully, the attempt was unsuccessful, and today she is a thriving third-year student at Rhodes University.
Suicide is a leading cause of death across the globe, with some estimates indicating someone commits the heartbreaking act once every 40 seconds. These unfathomable numbers and the damage they do to the families affected led to the establishment of Suicide Prevention Month.
September was International Suicide Prevention Month – thousands of suicide prevention events occurred around the world to educate and hopefully deter those who may want to commit suicide.
But is it actually working?
Thembisa’s experience
Both before and after her attempted suicide, Thembisa said she had known of suicide prevention events, but was never interested in attending.
“I think they never interested me because mentally I kind of felt as if I was at a point where nothing could help my depressive state,” she said.
It was compulsory for her to attend suicide prevention events when her family, school and counsellors noticed how severely depressed she was, but she would just sit there not listening.
For people who have already attempted suicide, Thembisa says that awareness, education, training and community support events are not suitable.
“I think they would really work for people who aren’t all the way extremely depressed.”
Throughout the interview, Thembisa referred to depression as having a spectrum of intensity – a process that depressed individuals go through before deciding to commit suicide.
For her, she would have loved for someone like a teacher to notice her descent into depression before it got too serious. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. This brings into question the training and resources educators and schools receive to be able to detect serious mental health issues.
Thembisa said that in extreme cases, these events might do more damage than good.
She gave the example of someone in their initial stages of chronic sadness or depression going to a talk about suicide. In this talk, an individual might share how someone – or even they themselves – attempted suicide. The attendee who sought help from the event has inadvertently taught themselves how to commit suicide.
This is also why she avoids suicide prevention events. After her failed attempt, she felt her “zest for life wasn’t there” anymore. To go to an event where she can be reminded of her failure and how she attempted her own suicide would be triggering.
Rethinking prevention
Looking at suicide prevention events through Thembisa’s lens, it’s clear that we cannot lump everyone with depression into the same event.
“If these events are not done correctly, we might cause more harm. We need to be very aware of that. I would say that is very necessary. Because, as people, we always want to do the right thing. But sometimes when we’re doing the right thing, we’re not aware of what wounds we’re poking at.”
With that said, she does have an overall positive outlook on suicide prevention events – if they are done correctly.
In her mind, there is a logical pathway for people suffering from depression to follow. Someone in the initial stages of depression should go to suicide prevention events tailored to the intensity of those emotions. If that does not work, they should go to professional counselling.
“There should be some sort of screening process to see where someone is on a scale of one to ten.”
Crucially, Thembisa says that the most important thing for people with suicidal thoughts is not to feel alone.
Events where people are talked at should be replaced with interactive gatherings where people can find community individually, rather than in a circle of chairs where everyone is looking at you.
Thembisa’s recommendation
Her ideal event would follow a speed-dating format. Once the ice is broken, individuals at this event would casually talk to each other until it was time to switch. After that, groups can be formed to do different activities designed to foster community among the attendees.
All of the event’s attendees do not have to become best friends – just as long as everyone creates a support group of a few people with whom they are comfortable.
Suicide prevention talks do have their place – but primarily for those on the earlier end of the depressive spectrum and kids as young as seven with depressive feelings.
Thembisa said that it is a lot easier to change their minds with these surface-level talks, but any lower on the spectrum, and suicidal individuals have already made the decision. For them, counselling is needed.
Thembisa herself has received three years of counselling.
In her perfect world, everyone who feels the slightest bit of sadness would go straight to counselling, but there are not enough resources.
The resource crisis
At Rhodes University, there are over 8 000 students, but only a handful of counsellors. The waiting list to see one is long unless you express that you are going to harm yourself or others.
Rhodes is not the only institution that has these troubles. Almost every facet of the South African mental health care industry is suffering from critical underfunding. Only 5% of the national public health care budget is allocated to mental health care. This allocation continues to decline as the overall health budget decreases.
There is also a workforce shortage of 1.2 psychiatrists and 7.5 psychiatric nurses per 100 000 people, according to a study by the National Library of Medicine.
“I wish that there was a lot more funding for health care in South Africa… people can’t afford antidepressants,” Thembisa says.
Impact of suicide prevention events
She says that these events should be regular gatherings, where a community of people who are not mentally healthy strive towards becoming better together.
Whether it’s frolicking in the grass, chatting around a table or whatever they feel is helpful, meeting regularly for the goal of getting better is what Thembisa believes is essential.
So, to the earlier question of whether these events actually work, the answers are yes and no.
In Thembisa’s mind, they do have a place in helping individuals who are not highly depressed. Still, their current form could be significantly optimised by augmenting how these events interact with these individuals and by creating a greater sense of community through slow one-on-one interactions with people similar to themselves.
Note: The identity of the interviewee has been kept confidential
