“Conversation about suicide must start in places of worship,” says academic

SUICIDAL behavior needs to become part of the conversation in mosques, temples and churches.

So says Dr Naseema Vawda who presented her pilot study, Suicide Attempts During Pregnancy in South Africa at the KZN Department of Health’s Research Day, held at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital recently.

Dr Vawda, who heads up the psychology unit at King Edward VIII Hospital, says the aim of the study was to establish what percentage of suicide attempters were pregnant and to identify their clinical and socio-demographic characteristics.

“While doing clinical work and supervising interns I’d notice an increasing trend over the years where women who are pregnant were coming in with suicidal trends. That worried me because it was a new thing,” she said.

Dr Vawda says the research on suicidal behavior indicates that males are four times more likely to commit suicide than females, but that women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Whereas maternal and child health issues together with injury and violence have been identified [among] the quadruple burden of diseases facing the South African healthcare system, research on self-injury such as suicide attempts in pregnancy is limited. This, she says, is due to the belief that pregnancy is protective against suicide and suicidal behavior.

ALSO READ: One person commits suicide every 40 seconds: WHO

Using a retrospective chart review over one year, she discovered that out of 27 attempted suicide cases, 9 women, or 33% of the sample, were pregnant at the time of the suicide attempt. Their attempts at suicide were precipitated by partner relationship problems, family relationship problems, witnessing the murder of a significant other, financial stress, past psychiatric history and previous suicide attempts.

“We must create awareness of the resources available to people who feel like that. Once you start de-stigmatizing it, and bringing it out into the open, people will be more willing to communicate about it. That would enhance prevention efforts and increased likelihood for them to approach organisations that can help. We must remember that when people feel pressured to hide their pain, that’s when they feel unsupported and go ahead and act on their feelings,” said Dr Vawda.

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