SUICIDE! A CLICHÉ FOR LOVE ISSUES
In the picture: Dr Chiwoza Bandawe- Clinical PsychologistAn
investigative report by Wezzie Nyirongo
“I love Thula but she loved others more, goodbye, live your life and enjoy it to the fullest,” reads part of a suicide note of one of Malawian Pastors who opted to stanch his own life. The Pastor who held in the City of Mzuzu committed suicide after the girlfriend he was dating started going out with other men. Police in Mzuzu confirmed that Reverend William Mumba died after committing suicide. According to a crime situation report that indicated the results of postmortem conducted at Mzuzu Central hospital showed that his death was due to suffocation secondary to strangulation. “A suicide note that we have seen indicates that the pastor had a girlfriend by the name Thula, who was allegedly going out with other men" reported the Police.
Namwini Daniel reported a Standard 7 girl who committed suicide after love reprimand. Various narrations' target was on how a Standard 7 girl at Kawale Primary School committed suicide by throwing herself in Lilongwe River after being warned over multiple sexual relationships. Lilongwe police spokesperson, Foster Benjamin confirmed to Malawi News Agency (Mana) on the following day that the deceased was 14-year-old (Name withheld) hailed from Kabudula village, Traditional Authority Katunga in Chikwawa.
"Ethel was staying with her parents in Likuni allegedly going around with several boys. This prompted her parents to reprimand her, a thing which annoyed her. Two weeks ago, the girl reportedly went to her uncle and threatened that she would kill herself in protest to her parents advice. Hence, she was found drowned in the mentioned river, Benjamin said.
Stories like the ones above are examples of the reason suicide rates have highly pitched in Malawi over the years. Malawi lacks substantial prevalence data on suicide. Besides, continually high suicide rates have been reported over the past three years. In 2017, a study by Mwale and Mafuta revealed that the prevalence of suicide in Malawi was at 0.009%, (9 out of 100,000 people commit suicide in Malawi). "Love kills and thrills" so they say, and this cliché can not be farther from reality as people take their own lives yearly for love. Chiwoza Bandawe, a clinical psychologist, said the connotation that men dont cry has left some men emotionally stressed, leading to the increase in suicide cases among them.
Speaking during a public lecture on mental health at the Catholic University in Chiradzulu, Bandawe said 85% of suicide cases in Malawi are males, citing financial and relationship challenges as the leading causes. Expressing and releasing emotions is one way of preventing depression and anxiety; hence, the need for men to speak out. Emotions need to be expressed, so it is important that men learn to express their feelings. said Bandawe.
Moses Muotcha, one of the clinical psychologists, working with Kamuzu College of Nursing, considers the rise in suicide cases as largely because of a lack of coping skills to deal with the social situations. Muotcha also said Malawi's shortage of mental health experts and institutions is a challenge for the country - one of the poorest in Africa. Malawi has only one public mental hospital, and the few mental health experts in other hospitals are overburdened. According to researchers believe the country also has 3,460 out-patient mental health facilities comparison to Malawi where communities largely depend on mental health nurses and clinical officers to deliver mental health services in government facilities, there remains a gap for efficient service-delivery. Several suggestions have been made on possible interventions required to reduce the suicide burden.
Chimwaza appealed to the government to work towards establishing centers within public health facilities that would provide therapy. Not everyone can have access to private facilities or therapists. The Social Welfare Department ought to come in and strengthen psychosocial support systems, he proposed.