September is World Suicide Prevention Month – know what to look out for
“I felt so hurt, angry and cursed. I saw suicide as the only solution.”
“Talk, cry but whatever you do don’t bottle up your emotions. Crying is not a sin. It is a healing process.”
This is the advice of Greenstone resident and Edenvale depression counsellor Khanyi Nkululeko.
September is World Suicide Prevention Month and Khanyi hopes to create more awareness about suicide.
Aslo read: Teen Suicide Prevention Week observed
As a suicide survivor, Khanyi knows first-hand the importance of speaking about problems and sharing emotions.
In 2010 he tried to commit suicide on two separate occasions.
“I fell victim to a pyramid scheme. I lost my money, my aunt’s and my cousin’s money,” said Khanyi.
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“My aunt wanted her money back so I took loans to pay her back.”
After making the loans Khanyi was blacklisted and his car and house were repossessed.
“I didn’t want to talk about my problems or share what I was going through with my family or my friends.”
In June that year, his parents died in a car accident.
“In the black culture as men, we are taught to be strong and to not cry.”
“I tried to be strong for my siblings.”
In the two months following his parent’s death, two of Khanyi’s brothers died.
“I felt so hurt, angry and cursed. I saw suicide as the only solution.”
Khanyi attempted suicide and tried to overdose on medication.
He survived by being rushed to a Brenthurst hospital where his stomach was pumped.
“When I was discharged I was still angry. Every day I had a fear of the next,” said Khanyi.
“I felt that I was not important to anyone and that God didn’t care about me.”
Two days after his discharge Khanyi tried to hang himself at a friend’s house.
“When I kicked the chair, I was standing on, away I disturbed my friend who woke up and found me hanging.”
“She phoned the police and a security company and I was taken to a hospital.”
After his second suicide attempt, Khanyi spent three months in a psychiatric ward.
While in the ward he realised that the medication the patients were being provided with was not helping them.
“I noticed that the medication was not addressing the actual problems people were facing.”
Khanyi said after he was discharged he decided to start counselling and presenting motivational talks.
The patients he assists are referred to him by hospitals and the South African Depression and Anxiety Group.
In order to further assist the community, Khanyi will host a support group on October 25 and allow community members to come together and talk.
The support group Ungazibulali (Zulu for don’t kill yourself) will be held at the Edenvale Community Centre.
Khanyi said doctors and other community stakeholders will speak at the event.
“Suicide is not the only option people need to talk about.”
Contact Khanyi on 083 727 2367 for more information.
Signs of a person contemplating suicide:
• A person will always talk about the past.
• A person will be very unhappy.
• If someone is constantly worried about everything.
• A change in sleeping patterns.
• A lack of interest in previous hobbies.
Reasons why a person will commit suicide:
• Pressure on learners from schools and parents.
• Financial difficulties.
• Relationship issues.
• Abusive relationships.
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