It is World Suicide Prevention Day 2023 and this year’s theme is “Creating Hope through Action”. The theme is particularly interesting because it doubles as a call. Talks about suicide and its prevention have been a recurring topic over the years, but action may not have been as abundant.
When World Suicide Prevention Day comes around each year, as a Nigerian, what first comes to mind is the “Criminalization of Suicide”. According to the Punch, 79 Nigerians died by suicide in 2022, and Lagos State had the highest number, closely followed by Oyo State. Now, if one looks at those figures, it gives the impression that while suicide is a concern, the rates are not so bad. However, if we factor in the fact that suicide is grossly under-reported in Nigeria, perhaps we will have a rethink.
Mental Health Advocates all around the country rejoiced over the Mental Health Act of 2021 that was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. For all his shortcomings, that was definitely a step in the right direction. In case you are not aware, let me provide some background.
When it came to mental health in Nigeria and laws regarding it, what we had in Nigeria was first the Lunacy Ordinance of 1916. This progressed to the Lunacy Act of 1958. The Lunacy Act of 1958 basically described the mentally ill as “lunatics” and as such, the society should be protected from them. Consequently, they could be detained under unsavoury conditions, and their rights could be taken away from them. As far as that Act was concerned, every mentally ill person was an idiot or a lunatic and by virtue of that, could be treated like criminals. If this does not seem to sink in, just imagine you had malaria – fever, headache, and nausea; and then the next thing you know, you are detained with or without treatment for a week for observation. In this period, you may also be chained and treated as though you were less of a human being than everybody else. Essentially, taking ill is a crime, and you are punished for it.
Summarily, the Lunacy Act conveniently overlooked the fact that the mentally ill are human beings and did not make themselves mentally ill. The Act failed to protect the mentally ill who were themselves at the greatest risk of exploitation and abuse, amongst other things, and instead focused on protecting the society from them as though they were nuclear weapons. This Act operated for 64 years.
Fast forward to 5th January 2023, the Mental Health Act was passed into law by President Buhari. Although the Act also has some drawbacks, it has brought on a lot changes that will protect people living with mental illnesses.
Now let us move on to Suicide law. Section 327 of Nigeria’s Criminal Code states that “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year”. Section 231 of the country’s Penal Code states that “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both”.
Summarily, if one attempts to die by suicide and fails, instead of it being seen as an opportunity to provide the person with help, the person is convicted for crime and may be imprisoned for daring to take their own life.
The effect of the foregoing is that first, people do not report suicide or sucidal attempts, because it is a crime. Second, people cover up suicidal attempts and may not seek help because it is shameful to be a criminal. Third, sequel to the first and second points, we are unable to have data on the burden of suicide in the country, much less do research on predisposing factors in this clime and how best to mitigate them.
Before you can solve or prevent a problem, you have to identify and know the problem. Furthermore, you have to know how and why the problem occurs. The criminalization of suicide is a stumbling block against both. Regardless, while we await the decriminalisation of suicide nationwide, there are things we can do as Brownites, as individuals.
A major reason why I know that suicide is under-reported in Nigeria is because during the lockdown period of 2020, when organizations like Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative became popular for providing free mental health counselling services, several Nigerians reached out to them, speaking up about how they feel suicidal, or had made attempts, and so on. If several people have mental and emotional struggles that cause them to consider life not worth living anymore, perhaps, those closest to them may be the best persons to take notice.
As medical doctors and allied healthcare professionals to be, we should at the very least not be ignorant. Everyone should know about mental health. Everyone should be interested in mental health. Everyone should know their friends well enough that they may notice when these friends deviate from their normal behaviours. Everyone should know common mental health conditions and things that may be pointers to that. Everyone should know that if a friend suddenly starts giving out all their textbooks, and their belongings, it may not be that they are broke and need money. There may be more to their story and it wouldn’t hurt to pay closer attention.
Creating Hope through Action. If you become the caring friend or trend the hashtag “talk to someone” only when you have lost a dear one to suicide, you may not have done much. Prevention is better than cure rings true especially for suicide. Because in this case, a failure to prevent it may not just mean disease, it may mean death. You do not have to know how to manage mental health conditions. We do not all have to become Psychiatrists. But we should know when we or those around us need to seek help. Dear Brownites, let us create hope through knowledge, through concern, and most importantly, through action.
