A clinical health psychologist and private health practitioner, Dr. Isaac Newman Arthur says to ensure a total decline in suicidal cases in the country, there must be policies and regulations regarding media reportage on such cases.
He said the current approach by the media in their reports of suicide stimulates the increase among individuals who may be on the verge of trending on that tangent.
Dr. Isaac Newman Arthur was speaking on the Atlantic Wave in commemoration of the 2021 Suicide Prevention Day on the theme; “A renewed worldwide commitment to prevent suicides: creating hope through action”.
Mr. Arthur believes that, regulations and policies should guide the media as well as the entertainment sector in their approach about mental health and suicide.
“Reportage of mental health issues is very bad especially in the country where people show graphic images of people hanging on the robe or committing suicide. Those reportage actually promotes suicide behaviors among people because those graphic images encourages people to do it because they will know the knowhow and also have the confidence to do same. You will also realize that, when suicide happens, around the same time, you have more suicide cases coming up. Also in our movies, mental health is usually portrayed as punishment for something bad done and all this must change. There must be regulations guiding these sectors as well as on social media platforms.”
Statistics show that in 2018, the number of people who attempted suicide was 797. The numbers rose to 880 in 2019 but dropped to 777 in 2020.
According to Dr. Arthur, Ghana as a country must develop a holistic approach to solving the situation.
He said education on mental health and suicide must be intensified for people to have the right understanding and seek and seek the needed help adding that “this will also prevent stigmatization”.
On the level of the government, Dr. Newman Arthur emphasized the need for increased access to mental health care, increased mental health facilities and mental health workers across the country.
Source: Aba Aikins Appah/ATLFMNEWS
