Call for suicide prevention strategy

By David Williams, Freelance Writer

JAMAICA COULD be setting itself up for a "suicide epidemic" if authorities don't move to develop and implement a comprehensive nationwide strategy for suicide prevention.

Dr. Donovan Thomas, National Director of Jamaica Youth For Christ (JYTC), says nothing less than a broad-based strategy involving a wide cross-section of organisations in society can stem the growing incidence of suicide and suicidal behaviour in the island. He was speaking to The Gleaner against the background of a recent wave of suicides in Jamaica.

"The events of the past few weeks are indeed saying clearly to us that we can't take the problem of teen suicide, and suicide in general, at all lightly," stressed Dr. Thomas, who has been involved in counselling suicidal teenagers for the past 15 years.

"The fact is, there is a predisposition towards this high suicidal tendency, which could become epidemic if we don't implement a comprehensive programme to build awareness and help people to choose life."

Data from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) put the number of reported suicide cases for the year at 36. Among the more recent incidents is one which occurred two Wednesdays ago, involving 14-year-old Zia Bigby of Crawford, St. Elizabeth, who hanged herself from a tree. She was the third teenager to commit suicide this month, and the seventh person reported to have taken their life since the beginning of May. Two Mondays ago, Kendria Coke, 17, of White Hall district in Negril, Westmoreland, died five days after drinking the herbicide gramoxone, while 14-year-old Gilroy Fray, a student of Elderly Junior High School in St. Elizabeth used his school tie to hang himself on June 5.

On May 8, Earl Brown, also known as 'Birdy', of Frome in Westmoreland, a 26-year-old labourer hanged himself at Frome Sugar Estate, while 25-year-old welder, Tyrone Codrington, of Fairfield Mountain, Manchester, took his life by ingesting gramoxone on May 25. Tanute Bennett, a 43-year-old woodcutter from Retreat Mountain, St. Mary, who had been accused of sexually molesting a family member, was found hanging from a soursop tree on June 5, and on the following day Burt Louis, 30, masterminded a gruesome murder suicide in Mandeville, Man-chester, pouring acid down the throat of his three-year-old daughter, dousing his wife with the corrosive substance, and then killing himself.

According to Dr. Thomas, the 'export' of American behaviours to Caribbean countries seems to be extending to include suicide and its related behaviours. He said the trend needs to be seriously addressed before it reaches epidemic proportions as it has in the United States, where suicide is the eighth leading cause of death.

Information from the office of the US Surgeon-General indicates that for every two Americans murdered, there are three victims of suicide, and twice as many deaths occur by suicide than by HIV/AIDS. In addition, approximately 30,000 Americans take their own lives each year, while another half a million attempt suicide but survive.

In May, Surgeon-General, David Satcher, outlined a comprehensive national strategy for suicide prevention, describing suicide as "a serious national threat" and "a serious public health problem" in America.

Dr. Thomas applauded America's move to implement a national suicide prevention programme, and noted that Jamaica Youth For Christ has held a series of suicide awareness seminars across the island in recent months. The seminars, geared mainly towards young people, focused on identifying suicide risk and behaviours, reducing the social stigma associated with suicide treatment, and promoting overall suicide prevention. The sessions were held in St. James, St. Elizabeth and Kingston and St. Andrew, and a fifth is planned for Manchester in September.

The JYFC has also been trying to network with government agencies, business houses and non-governmental organisations for financial and other support in staging the day-long seminars, and in publishing the research findings of its project 'Confronting Suicidal Tendency Among Jamaican Youth'. It is hoped that at least one copy of the book can be made available to every school in the island by September, and proceeds from the publication will be used to further Youth For Christ's suicide awareness and prevention campaign.

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