Africa's Suicide & Mental Health Crisis; If It's Said In 3000 Tongues Will It Make A Difference?

Wednesday, 25 October 2023

By: TB Obwoge [email protected] @LaceysHouseAfr

Several agencies have highlighted the need for serious reforms where mental health is concerned. The African Union, the World Health Organization and several agencies at the government level in various African countries. It seems as though no ones listening.

I was amazed when I went to Twitter to notice that several African Twitter X users had no idea that the African continent had to highest suicide rate.

Six out of ten countries are in Africa. No matter which source you quote, the countries change silently but it always includes 5 to 6 countries in Africa within the top ten with highest suicide rates.

1 Lesotho 72.40 5.17

2 Guyana 40.29 5.15

3 Eswatini 29.4 3.87

4 South Korea 28.6 2.64

5 Federated States of Micronesia 28.2 2.87

6 Lithuania 26.1 5.42

7 Suriname 25.4 5.09

8 Russia 25.1 3.91

9 South Africa 23.5 4.45

10 Ukraine 21.6 5.25

Source: Ceo world biz

From an article by the United Nations on 6 October, 2022, where they announced that they were launching a campaign to bring awareness about the suicide rates in Africa. It's been a year since the United Nations started to push awareness.

With all the issues and conflicts taking place in the world today, it appears even the United Nations has abandoned the call for mental health on the African continent.

I lost my brother-in-law to suicide, I struggle everyday with mental health and passive suicidal thoughts.

Make suicide prevention in Africa a priority, UN health agency urges governments

Did you know that Africa has the highest suicide rate in the world? To reverse that worrying statistic, the UN health agency WHO on Thursday launched a social media campaign to raise awareness around mental health illness, which is believed to account for up to 11 per cent of the risk factors that are associated with suicide.

According to WHO, mental health problems affect 116 million people in the African region, up from 53 million in 1990.

The continent also has six of the top 10 countries for suicide in the world, while the agency also noted that for each suicide in Africa, there are an estimated 20 suicide attempts.

Despite the urgency of the problem, African governments allocate less than 50 US cents per person to treat mental health problems, says WHO. This is five times more than in 2017, but it is still well below the recommended $2 per person for low-income countries.

Additionally, mental health care is generally not included in national health insurance schemes, WHO said, noting that in Africa, there is only one psychiatrist for every 500,000 inhabitants.

This is 100 times below the WHO recommendation. Additionally, mental health workers mostly work in urban areas, often leaving rural communities without any support.

“Mental health is integral to wholesome health and well-being yet far too many people in our region who need help for mental health conditions do not receive it. It’s time to for radical change,” Dr Moeti said. “Ongoing efforts by countries should be reinforced and broadened to make mental healthcare a public health priority in the African region.”

Source: United Nations News

My brother-in-law Wilson was only 23-years old, he was soft spoken. He knew life in the village but loved the city life and he also attended university to become a teacher like his father & older brother.

The news of his suicide made it to several news outlets in Kenya. I found out from Facebook, where I saw his lifeless body laying on a bed in a Nairobi hospital. I was over 6000 miles away, on another continent, when I cried in front of strangers, to see this beautiful young man was no more.

His mother died 5 months prior to him ending his life, he even told his friends that he was going to be with her. They drank and ate off the last of his money, he borrowed 1 shilling, bought rat poison and drank it.

The comments under several articles posted on Facebook about his death were brutal. Kenyans insulted him for taking his life. Most of the articles claimed that he completed suicide because of missing marks and being unable to graduate with his friends.

It was much more going on inside of Wilson's head, things going on in his life and his inabily to handle them in a healthy manner.

He had started drinking a year or so prior to his death. I was sending him money for books to read on his leasure. However when I found out that he was drinking, sometimes heavily I stopped sending the money to his Mpesa account.

My husband and Wilson's father, rasied them in a manner where men were not allowed to show any emotions, with the exception of anger.

The Kenyan men that I met would often drink heavily, many spoke about being unable to express themselves. Talking and conversations, they limited what they'd share, emotions being shoved deep down inside.

Here I decided to add a very recent screenshot from a conversation I was having with a Ghanian man. He used the popular term I've heard in Ghana more than I can count, "It is what it is!"

This was is reply, he thinks that to be a man he has to keep his issus to himself.

WHO launches suicide prevention in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday the launch of a suicide prevention campaign in Africa, a region it says has the highest rate of suicide deaths in the world.

"About 11 people per 100,000 die in the African region, which is higher than the global average of nine cases of suicide per 100,000 people," the WHO regional office for Africa said in a statement.

Africa "is home to six of the ten countries with the highest suicide rates in the world," it continued. The most common methods used are "hanging, pesticide poisoning and, to a lesser extent, drowning, use of a firearm, plunging into a void or overdosing on drugs".

This situation is explained "in part by the limited means of action available to treat and prevent risk factors, including mental disorders," the text adds.

The region "has one psychiatrist for every 500,000 inhabitants, which is 100 times less than the WHO recommendation," it says.

Source: Africa News

In the first week of October 2023, a Ghanian young lady was found dead in her university hostel, police reports claim she died by suicide. Just a day or two prior my ex, who's a soldier in the Ghana Army told me to kill myself and see if Jesus was real. After getting very upset with him, I think he was trying to tell me to convert to Christianity.

Was that the proper way to say that? Of course not, he also told me that all the issues I was having in my life were because I wasn't a Christian. Perhaps he was telling me to kill myself, he surely didn't apologize even after I became upset. I have not spoken to him since and don't feel the desire to do so any time soon.

Many of the comments shown in the above article were posted under the video of her suicide on Facebook. They too were equally horrifying, and dismissive of her possible mental health issues.

Religion plays a huge part in how people with mental health issues in Africa are treated. The thought that mental illness is more of a spiritual flaw or that a person is lacking faith in God or Allah.

Superstition mixed with traditional beliefs. Many don't think mental illness exists on their continent. Or that their ancestors never had mental illness or completed suicide, this is much like the rhetoric when it comes to homosexuality.

Many Black Americans feel the same way, suicide is also on the rise within the Black community in the United States. It's also ignored there too!

In another subject that I recently wrote about was the Kenyan police going to Haiti, even though several Kenyans were killed in the most recent cost of living protests in the country.

Also 2000 Kenyan police were found mentally unfit to perform their duties, however known of them were fire or dismissed from their jobs. Just a week ago, a Kenyan police officer shot himself inside of his police issued vehicle. These are the same police officers being forced to go to Haiti.

President William Ruto told each station to choose 2 officers to send to Haiti. Did you know African police officers work for the government? Instead of working for the local county, city or town police force, they work as government officers.

What does this mean, this means that in most African countries police are forced to work in locations around the country that may not be where they live with their families. Meaning married couples would be separated. Unless the entire family can move, which is rare in most cases both spouses work, children are in schools and houses are owned & can't be moved.

From August of 2023, VOA wrote an article about suicide in Malawi;

Police statistics given to VOA show that the current suicide rate is at 11.6 per 100,000 people, higher than the global average of 10.5 per 100,000. Peter Kalaya, a spokesperson for the Malawi Police Service, said the records show that more youths are committing suicide than older persons.

“And what topped the list are issues to do with disagreement in relationships such as marital problems. Even for young girls who killed themselves — most of the reasons were that of relationship issues for example, failing to accept that a relationship has ended.”

Source: VOA

Side note, in some African countries femicide is on the rise, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda are some that come to mind immediately. Ghanian women have been murdered for ending relationships, or killed after being accused of having another lover.

Available evidence suggests that Nigeria's suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 stands above the global 10.5 per 100,000 and that of Africa's 12.0 per 100,000 estimates. [25] This suicide figure may even be higher than the estimated if there were to be proper reporting, documentation, and statistics.

Suicide in Nigeria is often not well reported and documented because of fear of stigmatization, cultural and religious sentiments, and the criminalization of suicide by the Nigerian constitution.[24,26] This study therefore assessed the prevalence of WHO helpful/harmful suicide reporting cues in suicide stories reported by Nigerian newspapers from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

Source: NHI National Library of Medicine

Stigma, that another big issue in African families, people feel shame, families are embarrased to admit that their family member died by suicide. I had a long time Kenyan friend, who's brother was a solder in the United States military. I remember him telling me of his brother's death at the time it happened, he told me that he died in his sleep.

It wasn't until years later that he shared with me that his brother had disappeared, he located him in a local hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia. He didn't go to him though, 3 days later his brother hung himself in that hotel room.

He also told me that he wanted to take his own life, he said he wanted to for most of his life. He and his brother were also very heavy drinkers, they were alcoholics, I didn't want to type this part but it's the truth. He shared that several men in his family died in ditches in Kenya, I asked why, he said they all died while drunk and fell into them. One fell in a ditch in the road, filled with water and unable to get up, he drowned.

Alcohol and drugs play a huge role in masking mental health issues, especially depression.

1. Nigeria - In Nigeria, beer constitutes about 16% of all alcoholic beverages consumed. Ogogoro is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in Nigeria. Other local drinks contain 86% of alcohol.

2. Cameroon - Locally brewed spirits are mostly preferred.

3. Uganda - Brewed brands make up 94%, whilst alcohol constitutes 4%, with wine consumption at 2%

4. Kenya - Tusker contributes 43% of total sales in Kenya and is the most popular beer brand.

5. Rwanda - Homemade alcoholic beverages constitute 92% of consumption, with beer brands making up 8%.

6. Namibia - Beer constitutes 67% of alcohol consumption in Namibia, with spirits contributing 20%, whilst wine and locally brewed beverages account for 7% and 6%, respectively.

7. Burundi - Alcohol brands are primarily preferred in Burundi, constituting 81% of consumption, with local signature beverages like Urwarwa and Banana wine constituting 19%.

8. South Africa - Most South Africans prefer beer, with Black Label and Castle Larger being the most popular.

9. Ghana - Beer constitutes 68%, whilst spirits and wines include 20% and 12 %, respectively.

10. Botswana - St Louis contributes to Botswana’s high alcohol consumption rate. Its very cheap and widely available across the country.

Source: The South African

Religion, shame, poverty, lack of mental health treatment facilities and noise pollution. I've once again written about the noise pollution in African countries. The noise sometimes in unreal and can last throughout the night.

Ghana was so loud, from church noise such as the music, preachers shouting at all hours of the night. I sat on the rough of a building on New Year's Eve and waited for the new year to come in.

I climbed the high steps, which had no railing to the rough of the building aroud 11:20 pm. All I could hear was shouting, church music, the preachers screamed through midnight, they didn't pause for the strike of midnight.

I've lived in Ghana and Kenya, both are very noisy in certain cities, Accra and Nairobi. Malawi, Benin, Togo, Nigeria all countries with issues of noise from churches, bars and clubs.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey's House efforts in Gender Equality & Children's Rights as it tries to move international.

©️TB Obwoge 2023 All Rights Reserved