The shock of suicide tragedies among teenagers

ISAAC PINIELO & PINI BOTLHOKO
Correspondents | Friday February 26, 2010 00:00

No one knows why these young people - four men aged 18 and a woman aged 20 - decided to end their lives.

There has not been any reason advanced to explain these human tragedies. Residents are still reeling in shock and they are having difficulty in coming to terms with the suicides.

Masunga Police Station commander, Superintendent Mpho Modisaotsile has expressed his concern about the recent number of suicide cases, which he said are on the increase. This number, he noted, was recorded around January 13 to February 15 this year. He said this is a shocking figure when compared to that of last year during the same period when only a single case was registered.

Modisaotsile indicated that it is difficult for them to say what the causes of the suicides could be. He said in most cases there are no signs or issues that suggest that one is contemplating committing suicide.

'At times, we have had suicide attempts among youths whereby someone had a problem with his/her lover especially when the other partner feels cheated, and sometimes it is when a youth is dating a person who is not accepted by his/her family,' he said. Modisaotsile appealed to the public to always seek help whenever they have problems. He said there are many people in the community who have skills to help those that are in such problems. He cited social workers, pastors, district officers, chiefs and police officers as examples.

'Life is a very precious gift. We only live once, so we need to protect our life so that we don't lose it unnecessarily,' he said.

Psychologist, Anita Lebengo agrees that it is possible for children to think of committing suicide. She says an 18-year-old would commit suicide when they are overwhelmed by stress either from relationships, failure to meet certain demands of the society like school, argument with parents, and so on.

'Children with some psychological disorders characterised by hallucinations and voices that tell them to do things mostly violent, often commit suicide to get away from these disorders,' she says.

Lebengo also indicates that some teenagers have imaginary friends who are always 'on their side'. She adds that when punished by parents the imaginary friend tells them to either harm the parent or themselves.

According to the psychologist, people think a lot about committing suicide, it is only fear of death that stops them and hope that they can still conquer their failures.

She says most suicides are a result of depression which is mainly caused by many factors such as financial problems, failed relationships, lack of openness about problems, family problems, withdrawal from others especially from family and friends, unfulfilled wishes and excessive aggression or anger.

Lebengo however says one of the major hiccups faced in societies is that people do not realise the importance of psychologists who are more knowledgeable about the individual state of mind. 'We still believe in the utilisation of social workers who do not go deeper into the mental processes of humans,' she says,

She also emphasises the need to socialise psychologists into the community to adjust people in accommodating them as open minded individuals, so that they can liberally discuss issues leading to stress, be they personal or not.

Wikipedia says that the most common cause of suicide is underlying mental disorders that include depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse. It says financial or other undesirable situations play a significant role.

It further states that 90 percent of people who commit suicide will have one of three mental health disorders, depression, alcoholism or schizophrenia, another 5% will have personality disorders, usually people who commit suicide have at least two disorders, either a combination of depression and alcoholism or depression and personality disorders but depression is the number one contributor to suicide.

According to Wikipedia, women are less likely than men to commit suicide because women process their experiences with friends, they discuss their feelings, seek feedback and take advice, they are much more likely to tell a physician how they feel and cooperate on the prescribed treatment and this approach keeps women from committing suicide, although suicide rates are lower in women, women lead men two to one in suicide attempts.

The leading methods of suicides in Botswana include hanging and firearms. An act or incomplete act of suicide is considered to be a crime, but it is not common in this country for someone to face criminal charges for a suicide attempt.