Suicide in focus on World Mental Health Day

South Africa joins several countries in marking World Mental Health Day today and psychiatrist and Sasop member Dr Kobus Roux said the country’s estimated suicide rate of 13.4 people per 100,000 was about four times that of the global rate of 3.6 per 100,000.

“But if strategies are in place to identify and manage the risk in the early stages, most of these deaths can be averted,” said Roux.

He said gaps in SA’s public and private healthcare system needed to be closed if the country was to reduce the risk of self-harm.

Suicide prevention is the focus of this year’s World Mental Health Day, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that one person in the world dies by suicide every 40 seconds – a tragic statistic that has led to its campaign for “40 seconds of action” to prevent suicide.

WHO has warned that if no urgent action is taken, by 2030 depression, which, in many instances, leads to people being suicidal, would be a leading illness globally.

Death by suicide, said Roux, had a lasting impact on families, workplaces and communities, and he urged healthcare providers to “better manage follow-up care for those at risk of suicide, rather than focusing only on once-off interventions at a crisis point”.

Private and public healthcare sectors grossly failed patients by not providing for follow-ups and ongoing treatment for individuals at risk.

“Ongoing therapeutic contact with high-risk patients is a very important strategy in suicide prevention. It needs to be implemented into the South African healthcare system,” Roux said.

The proposed National Health Insurance made no provision for outpatient psychiatric care.

He said the first phase of suicide prevention and treatment was “defusing and preventing acute suicidal behaviour” – something effectively managed by volunteer organisations like the SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) and LifeLine.

Sadag, which operates the country’s only dedicated suicide helpline, can be reached toll-free on 0800-567-567.

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