Suicide and the media |24 May 2023
Over the last two years, multiple suicides have been reported. Seychelles NATION investigated whether or not suicides have increased over the last five years, why it has increased and why the common method is hanging.
The statistics for suicidal rates show that in 2016 there were 8.00, which was a 0% increase from 2015, whereas it increased to 8.30 the following year, representing a 3.75% increase from 2016.
Suicide rate for 2018 was 8.20, a 1.2% decline from 2017 and for 2019 it stood at 8.10, a 1.22% decline from 2018.
Eight suicides (7 males, 1 female) were reported in 2021, compared to three suicide cases reported in 2020. Suicide rate in 2021 was 8.1 per 100,000 population.
Nine suicides were recorded throughout the year 2022, with the cause of death being hanging in all nine cases.
The result from the statistics is that the suicide rate is increasing at an alarming rate, and although with advanced technology the media may have been reporting on it more often, it is still something to be concerned about.
Seychelles NATION spoke to a psychologist, Jimmy Petrousse, to garner his thoughts on the situation in Seychelles.
He explained that for most people who reach that rock-bottom stage of their life, they have suffered from a “terrible sense of loss”. They have lost the will to live and feel empty on the inside. In the victim’s mind, they feel that “life is meaningless”, and that no matter what they do, they are unable to change the current situation and are left with a sense of hopelessness.
They see it as a way to free themselves from the burdens of life and from the responsibilities of having to continue living.
Mr Petrousse explained that those who are thinking about suicide, do not actually want to die, but they see no other way to release themselves from the anguish. “That is the biggest misconception,” he explained.
In Seychelles specifically, Mr Petrousse explains that men are 10 times more likely to commit suicide than women.
“Most women will express how they feel and talk about their feelings and can decompress,” he explained. “Whereas for men, they keep it on the inside and it is an internalised struggle.”
In regards to why hanging is the most common way of committing suicide, Mr Petrousse explained that it is due to it being more fatalistic. It is the fastest way out and the one that is the final. Where women used to use poison in the past, they are now slowly moving towards the rope as a more final method.
“Women are suffering so much these days and they are screaming for help but there is no place to voice out their suffering.”
He explained that historically, when the Seychellois people were enslaved, they were innovative as a community and they developed Moutya as a way to transform that pain into pleasure. The country has inherited a powerful cultural symbol but because of the move away from community and more towards individualism, the country is divided.
“We are starting to see that it is everybody for themselves and that is where nobody wants to talk to each other to be able to figure out their problems.”
Mr Petrousse also explained that certain groups on social media were separating and distancing the population of Seychelles which destroys the sanctity of connection. It is a driving force in why people are ending their own life.
Sunny Esparon