Health
MS Titilayo Tade, Training Coordinator, Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN), has urged Nigerians to always seek help when faced with challenges to avert suicide tendencies.
Tade, also a Mental Health Advocate, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to her, people can contact a professional therapist for advice or call the SURPIN Toll Free Hotline – 0800 078 7746, for help when faced with mental health challenges.
She said that the motive for providing the toll free hotline was to prevent suicide tendencies among Nigerians, thereby creating avenue where they could speak out and seek help concerning their challenges.
“With the free line, people can easily call in respect to the challenges they are facing at any point and we will give them the necessary counseling or even direct them to appropriate mental health facility for medical attention.
“When one is emotionally disturbed, finds it difficult to sleep, depressed, anxious or loses interest in what normally gives him joy; it is important that such individual seek for the advice of a counselor or therapist.
“In the past, we’ve had calls concerning people at the verge of suicide or even people that drink substances to terminate their lives. But through the calls, SURPIN came in and rescue their lives,” she said.
Tade decried that the country was filled with a lot of challenges: economic challenges and hardships, which could make someone to consider suicide, resort to drug abuse or even engaged in immoral behaviours.
She identified depression, poverty and frustration as major risk factors of suicide, regretting that some people in difficult situations had considered suicide rather than speaking out or seeking for help.
“We are dealing with a lot of issues in the country; businesses are falling, things are expensive, cash is hard to come by and the basic amenities are lacking.
“This is taking a toll on the mental health of Nigerians; it makes people vulnerable to becoming suicidal, aggressive, violent, corrupt and other anti-social behaviours.
“The statistics may not be there, but by observations, people are bottling up their emotions and challenges, instead of speaking out.
“There is need for people to speak out; let us not be intimidated to bottle up our anxieties, challenges and frustrations. Even considering suicide should not be an option for life challenges of any sort.
“We should learn to share our worries, speak out and seek help because a problem shared is half-solved,” Tade told NAN.
According to her, some other causes of suicide include loss of a loved one, unemployment, difficulty with developing identity, disassociation from community or other social groups.
She advised that people should learn to create time for relaxation and look beyond the economic situation of the country, focusing on the positive in every bad situation. (NAN)
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August 16, 2023 @ 16:21 GMT|
Tags: Titilayo Tade
