More youth committing suicide
Sep 21, 2003
A university student is left with only months to become a doctor, but he has never seen his mom. He doesn’t even know whether she is alive. He has repeatedly asked his father but got no answers. “What am I living for?†he asks.
A university student is left with only months to become a doctor, but he has never seen his mom. He doesn’t even know whether she is alive. He has repeatedly asked his father but got no answers. “What am I living for?†he asks.
A schoolgirl wants to continue with her studies, but the parents want to marry her off to a rich man. When she refuses, they stop paying her school fees and send her away from home. She loses hope in life and ceases to trust anybody. She wonders whether life is worth living.
A young lady falls deeply in love with a young man who is struggling financially. Her parents are not amused. They have all along been dreaming about their daughter marrying a rich man. So they reject the struggler. “What is life for?†she asks.
A schoolboy runs broke and borrows money from a colleague. When he returns home for holidays, his parents accuse him of extravagance and refuse to give him money to pay back. He fears to face his colleague back at school.
A teenager gets pregnant and her boyfriend denies responsibility. She fears to face her parents, and looks for a permanent way out of the embarrassment.
These are some of the common stories that counsellors receive from people who attempt or plan to commit suicide.
“Suicide is becoming more common. Our generation never thought of somebody committing suicide,†says Rev. Prof. Peter Matovu, Director of the Makerere University Guidance and Counselling Centre.
He says it results when emotional pains stop people from realising their self-worth or where they will go after the suicide. Whether someone bears the pain or yields to suicide feelings, depends on personality. Such pains build up when people do not consult friends on their moves and problems, so they suffer quietly, Matovu says. Others, he says, fail to see the value in themselves and therefore lose interest in life.
“A lot of people hate themselves because they do not like the way God created them,†he says. He adds, “An individual does not value God or himself as the shelter of God. An individual who thinks about the value of God thinks of where to go after suicide.â€
Dr. Margaret Mungherera, a senior consultant psychiatrist, says suicide is increasing due to modern stresses of life.
“Suicide used to be more common in older people but now we are seeing it more in young people,†she says.
Usually suicide does not occur suddenly. Days or hours before people kill themselves, you can see in them some clues or they tell somebody.
A person who is likely to commit suicide may continually feel sad and weak, hardly enjoys anything, has sleepless nights and often feel they want to kill themselves. They may cry especially when alone. Some say things like ‘I want to die’, ‘I will kill myself’, or I wish I were dead.
“Any time somebody wants to commit suicide, seek help from a counsellor. If there is no specialised counsellor, any health worker can do,†Mungherera said.
She adds, “The most important thing is to talk to the person. Don’ t force them to keep quiet. You have to discuss the issue with them.â€
The first thing a person with suicidal feelings needs is someone to listen to them. Someone to help them solve the underlying problem. To make them realise there are people who care. Such a person should not be left isolated.
A schoolgirl wants to continue with her studies, but the parents want to marry her off to a rich man. When she refuses, they stop paying her school fees and send her away from home. She loses hope in life and ceases to trust anybody. She wonders whether life is worth living.
A young lady falls deeply in love with a young man who is struggling financially. Her parents are not amused. They have all along been dreaming about their daughter marrying a rich man. So they reject the struggler. “What is life for?†she asks.
A schoolboy runs broke and borrows money from a colleague. When he returns home for holidays, his parents accuse him of extravagance and refuse to give him money to pay back. He fears to face his colleague back at school.
A teenager gets pregnant and her boyfriend denies responsibility. She fears to face her parents, and looks for a permanent way out of the embarrassment.
These are some of the common stories that counsellors receive from people who attempt or plan to commit suicide.
“Suicide is becoming more common. Our generation never thought of somebody committing suicide,†says Rev. Prof. Peter Matovu, Director of the Makerere University Guidance and Counselling Centre.
He says it results when emotional pains stop people from realising their self-worth or where they will go after the suicide. Whether someone bears the pain or yields to suicide feelings, depends on personality. Such pains build up when people do not consult friends on their moves and problems, so they suffer quietly, Matovu says. Others, he says, fail to see the value in themselves and therefore lose interest in life.
“A lot of people hate themselves because they do not like the way God created them,†he says. He adds, “An individual does not value God or himself as the shelter of God. An individual who thinks about the value of God thinks of where to go after suicide.â€
Dr. Margaret Mungherera, a senior consultant psychiatrist, says suicide is increasing due to modern stresses of life.
“Suicide used to be more common in older people but now we are seeing it more in young people,†she says.
Usually suicide does not occur suddenly. Days or hours before people kill themselves, you can see in them some clues or they tell somebody.
A person who is likely to commit suicide may continually feel sad and weak, hardly enjoys anything, has sleepless nights and often feel they want to kill themselves. They may cry especially when alone. Some say things like ‘I want to die’, ‘I will kill myself’, or I wish I were dead.
“Any time somebody wants to commit suicide, seek help from a counsellor. If there is no specialised counsellor, any health worker can do,†Mungherera said.
She adds, “The most important thing is to talk to the person. Don’ t force them to keep quiet. You have to discuss the issue with them.â€
The first thing a person with suicidal feelings needs is someone to listen to them. Someone to help them solve the underlying problem. To make them realise there are people who care. Such a person should not be left isolated.