Hemanta Ghimire’s suicide in his Baltimore apartment last week will be erased from the minds of Baltimoreans and the local Nepali community member soon. In fact, as soon as his last rites are performed at the nearest crematorium. We are so busy in our daily lives that we have no time to think about the toll of mental stress that is slowly but steadily engulfing immigrant communities.
According to news reports, Ghimire, a 27-year-old Nepali youth, had gone to Oklahoma in the US in 2011 as an international student. He had settled in Maryland without completing his studies. He was being treated against depression at the University of Maryland Hospital Center for the last four months. He had been discharged only a week before he committed suicide. [break]
Three days after being discharged from the psychiatric ward of one of US’s topmost hospitals, Ghimire hanged himself to death inside his own bedroom. No notes were recovered from the incident site or in his Facebook status. If there had been a suicide note, it could have given clues to investigators as to what exactly instigated him to take his own life.
Statistics of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention put suicide as the third leading cause of death among the youths and young adults, right behind homicide and unintentional injury. A recent study of Family in Society (FiS) also stated that suicide rate among immigrant families is aggravated due to financial strain, immigrants’ socio-political and cultural background in his/her native country (in Hemanta’s case Nepal), challenges posed by language and communication, difficulties negotiating with American systems, and not to forget, the racial discrimination said to be at the very center of American psyche.
Statistics show that at least three students commit suicide every 75 minutes in the US alone. Right now, Nepal ranks 12th among countries with students in colleges and universities of the US. This poses a great concern as to how these students could be saved from depression in the US. And of even greater concern is the fact that the causes and remedies of depression in immigrants have not yet been discussed at a national level in Nepal.
Subodh Adhikari, the youngest son of Muktinath Adhikari, a teacher in Lamjung who was brutally killed by Maoists, still suffers from bouts of depression. He has been taking more time than estimated to complete his studies. “No matter how hard I try to forget the trauma I and my family had to endure after my father’s brutal killing, and go on with life, it haunts us even more with time,” Subodh once said.
Dharam Bishwokarma, a close friend of the late Hemanta Ghimire, told a local Nepali online journal published from Baltimore that Ghimire’s family had also been a victim of Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The Maoists themselves are going through a rosy phase after entering the political mainstream, but the worst effects of the decade-long insurgency have begun to surface in manners unimagined.
Suicidal issues originate from cognitive disorders — clinical and maniac depression, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and other abnormalities in the chemicals present in the brain. Ninety percent of suicides are committed by people with a diagnosed, treatable psychiatric disorder.
Taboo surrounds the issues of suicide and psychiatric disorders in the US. Journalists often label the tool of suicide as the cause of suicide, claiming that guns are related to suicide. However, guns are not malevolent entities that spur people to take their own lives, but rather weapons mentally ill or depressed people use to kill themselves to ensure a painless ending.
There is a very little public discussion about the true nature of suicide. People who are depressed often feel the need to repress their melancholy in public to avoid making others feel uncomfortable. They hold themselves accountable for their own actions. We refer to depression as being “sad”, even though it is not a mood but a mentality that causes complete hopelessness and drives destructive behavior in individuals.
As a nation and community, we alienate suicidal and depressed individuals because we refuse to discuss the issue openly and acknowledge the psychologically ill as victims of their disease.
Coming to Nepali immigrants, the immigrant community needs to be proactive when it comes to identifying and notifying authorities about abnormal behaviors of community member(s). Nepali students deal with not only the impact of cultural shock and immigration, but also the effects of the violence in Nepal and related trauma to their families. Those students who go abroad without scholarships or any other financial support face increased risk of suicide, as they fail to meet their expectations and fall prey to the sinister nature of capitalist society in the US. Failure to integrate in host societies, alienation, and detachment from social life are often to blame.
A community-based participatory initiative is urgently required to combat the dangers of depression and possible suicide. Those working with immigrants must be culturally responsive, and immigrant populations must be active participants in the social life of their host countries.
shreetidhakal@hotmail.com
Related story
What not to do during silent period?
-1778465739.webp)
