50 suicide calls in 4 days: Residents bombard helplines



LEKAN OLABULO, TUNDE DODONDAWA and NEWTON-RAY UKWUOMA searched for answers to the riddle of Third Mainland Bridge as the new choice spot as residents go for suicide broke.
“Who wanna die” is a popular reggae refrain. It used to be largely seen as a rhetorical question expected to be answered in the negative. But not anymore, especially among residents of Lagos who, apart from attempting suicide and actually committing it in unprecedented manner, are tapping into the window of opportunity provided by the state government to tell the authorities that they “wanna die”.
It is likely government didn’t bargain for what it got when it commissioned helplines for residents to call in if suicide cases walk on two legs or hibernate around them. The lines were officially released to the public last Friday and by Wednesday this week when Saturday Tribune checked with the operators, it was more than a ratio of 10 calls to a day, bringing the total to about 50 in about four working days. That surely must be a cause for concern.
According to findings, of the over 50 calls received, four were serious suicide cases while three, though dire, were from other states.
One of the therapists who spoke to Saturday Tribune under anonymity said, “We have met physically with the four callers after counselling them. Some of the callers access the helplines from outside Lagos, from states like Borno and Kano. Although their cases are dire, we could only counsel them.
The therapist stated that some of the calls were misdirected due to certain semantic undertone of the helpline.
“Some people call the helpline asking for financial help. Some call because they lost their jobs or got divorced. We direct these persons to the social services for attention.
“But we wish to enlighten the people that it is a helpline for emotional distress. We offer counselling services. After talking to a therapist, you can decide if you want to meet the therapist face to face. The problem is separating what these lines are meant to serve from what people think it is used for. But it is not to provide money for people”, he said.
The acting Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr Richard Ademola Adebayo, identified the current economic crunch as a factor responsible for the upsurge of suicide cases in the state.
“Anywhere you have a recession, suicide is typically the fallout. And in our society where people cope with a drop in purchasing power, where there are no jobs, where those who have jobs cannot afford basic things like food, clothing and shelter, thoughts of ‘life is worthless’, thoughts of hopeless and loss of faith might set in. And where these factors are available, depression is present.
“Suicide does not just occur. It takes a prolonged period of time to set in and to mature. When an individual is depressed, they are very vulnerable to suicide”, he said.
The psychiatrist identified other factors that may lead to suicide.
“Lack of faith can lead to suicide. When an individual has a challenge, he does not immediately go to commit suicide, but when he thinks he does not have the capacity to face the challenge, he is first depressed then suicidal. So, we try to tell people to have faith that whatever it is they are going through can be solved.
“Now, it is important to state other factors that might make an individual suicide-prone. One of them is drug abuse. A person who is constantly on drug overuse is most likely to lose faith in life and to commit suicide.
“The second is terminal illnesses such as cancer, stroke and AIDS. Incurable conditions also contribute immensely to depression, which is a stage to suicide.”
He mentioned mental disorder as a contributing factor to the rise of suicide cases.
“A mentally imbalanced person is more likely to see no value in life and then to commit suicide”, he stated.
Dr Adebayo, in enumerating the factors, mentioned certain remedial steps to preventing suicide, enjoining the people to be their brothers’ keepers.
He said, “Ordinarily, religion is supposed to provide hope to adherents. But more often than not, this is not the case. When we are no longer our brothers’ keepers, when people are honoured based on their social status rather than virtues, it likely makes the man who does not have the wherewithal to be honoured feel that his life is worthless. This leads to depression and then suicide”.
Beyond psychological solution, the government too has tried to fashion ways of stemming the suicide tide in the state with a blanket ban on any form of loitering on the Third Mainland Bridge which has suddenly become a suicide attraction.

 ‘Hilarious’ ban
The ban by the police has had its hilarious side. A well-circulated story on the social media asked the opinion of Nigerians on the morality of the sacking of a driver who refused to obey his boss’s order to stop on the bridge for him (the car owner) to ease himself. The boss, according to the gist, ended up peeing on his body and then firing the driver for the embarrassment. The driver reportedly claimed that he didn’t want his boss to jump into the Lagoon like Dr Orji who ordered his driver to stop and then jumped into the river. If the police ban is factored into the driver/boss gist, the driver would have been correct to disobey his boss.
But what exactly is pulling Lagosians into the lagoon on the Third Mainland Bridge, which they have known for nearly three decades? The Bashorun of Oworonsoki land, Chief Jelili Aremu Lawal, one of the custodians of the traditional values in the Lagos community, which hosts the lagoon, gave an insight.
His community has suddenly jumped into the consciousness of many, considering its prime of place among other communities that are not only surrounded by the lagoon but also house the popular bridge that is fast becoming a controversial one.
Since the lagoon at different points became the choice place for suicide, some traditionalists have urged the government and the traditional institution to look beyond the individual’s reason for the suicide and attempts. They are of the opinion that some “water forces” might be responsible for the inexplicable urge to jump into the lagoon

POSTED BY:OPUOMONI PRIYE
DATE:04/15/2017

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