There are many things that lead a person to committing suicide. Depression and mental illness are two of the main causing factors of it. According to Dr. Arun Kunwar, psychiatrist at Metro City Hospital in Maharajgunj, 80-90 percent of the people who commit suicide suffer from depression. Among those who are contemplating suicide, 75 percent of them take up to three weeks to come to such a drastic decision.
"A person in such a situation is always looking for someone to talk to or share their feelings," he says. Recognizing this fact, in 2013 he had initiated a suicide helpline. In developed countries, there are many trained professional operating such help lines so that those contemplating suicide can be made to change their mind. However, this is the only helpline in the country that he started after training 10 other resident doctors of Teaching Hospital at Maharajgunj. With at least one of the doctors working round the clock, there's always someone
waiting by.
People still take suicide and depression as a taboo subject, something that should not be included in tea talks. The possibility of someone suffering from mental illness is still a foreign idea to them. Of course, the helpline is a commendable effort of the doctors to prevent such unfortunate occurrence, but there are still certain groups who have not been able to break free from the societal perception of suicidal thoughts and mental illness as stigma. These people refuse to come to the clinic. Dr. Sagun Pant, MD, Psychiatry at TUTH and involved in the helpline says, "One of the reason is that they believe that isn't something that a doctor can cure."
Hence we should think of going a step further and resort to identifying the problem before it takes a turn from where there is no going back. In the developed countries, factors concerning mental health are taken seriously, and governments and independent sectors have taken it upon themselves to ensure that no one is deprived of it. Sharing feelings and thoughts are one of the important factors to maintain mental health. In the UK, befriending services provided to old people are one example where social workers visit them so that they can address their loneliness.
Of course, such arrangements call for huge investment where the concerned authorities along with the public join hands to seek that the issue is being tackled. With such criterion, prevention measures can help. Such is the case of the helpline being run by Dr. Sagun Pant and his friends though their helpline operation is still in its trial phase.
"We haven't advertised the helpline. But those who know about the Facebook page do call and enquire," he says, adding that whenever news of suicides are covered by the media, they get calls from as far as Malaysia and Qatar. At other times, they get 3-5 calls asking for help.
This could mean that there are people who are seeking help, but just don't know where to look for it. This opportunity should be seized to raise awareness of such facility. As a long term solution, the government and private sectors should take active part in raising awareness about the importance of attending to mental health.
Unfortunately, the government doesn't consider mental illness a problem. Kunda Joshi, Senior Health Education Officer at the National Health Education Information and Communication, says that there are policies to address mental illnesses but it implementation is dangerously lagging behind.
Though he claims that the government is disseminating information regarding mental illnesses and encouraging people to acknowledge that they exist, he laments that the response from the community towards these awareness campaign are nil. Even private organization like National Association for Suicide Prevention and Research hasn't been able to do anything besides talk about it on one day (September 10) to discuss
the issue.
The National Mental Health Policy issued in 1996 with the help of psychiatrists, psychologists, representatives of the National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Health takes a pledge on improving awareness about mental health, mental disorders, and the promotion of mentally healthy lifestyles by making health workers and community people participate. It also talks of preparing human resources in the area of mental health to provide services. However, this hasn't been implemented in ways to give visible results.
Shyam Pandey, staff at Aasha Deep, a mental illness rehabilitation center, agrees with that. "Only people who have reached the extreme stage of mental illness are taken in, and even then, there aren't enough people to take care of them," he says.
Things aren't that bleak, however. Things are slowly stirring the area of mental health and illness. People who need help shouldn't be shamed or discouraged. Here, familial and friends' role is prominent in playing out the patients' mental health. Dr. Arun Kunwar agrees to that, adding that after medication and counseling, family support goes a long way in pulling a patient from the clutch of suicidal thoughts. For that, family members should be patient and understanding of the patients.
Last year, Deepika Padukone, the Bollywood actor who has 9.99 million followers on Twitter admitted to having depression for which she had to take medication. Prior to that, her contemporary Anuskha Sharma did the same; coming clean about her anxiety issues. News of this sort are popping up every day, and in its own little way, coaxing the locals here to openly start talking about it and addressing this important issue.
Recently, on the occasion of World Bipolar Day that falls on March 30, Nepal Mental Health Foundation, a human rights organization, conducted a talk program with a psychotherapist amidst ministers and other guests on Thursday, March 26.
Hopefully there are more such programs to come which will make people shed the coat of stigma and taboo associated with mental health. It is high time that we started taking depression and mental illness seriously. It may contribute largely to the prevention of tragic suicides.
sachimulmi@gmail.com
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