Fresh calls to tame mental health crisis
Fresh calls have emerged to invest in professionals to avert a mental health crisis the country is going through as evidenced by a surge in suicide cases.
In an interview yesterday ahead of Suicide Prevention Day commemoration today, Professor Chiwoza Bandawe, a clinical psychologist at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes), said there is need to train more professionals to manage the crisis.
He also said men need to be encouraged to constantly engage in talks when they have issues.
Said Bandawe: “We are in crisis mode and it will get worse until we do something about it. We need to equip men to handle issues at workplaces, at home, young men in colleges so that they should have tools to handle stresses that they encounter in day to day life.
“Generally, there are relationship and financial challenges that affect people. We also know that depression and anxiety can play a big role. Drug and substance abuse also contribute to suicide in terms of compromising one’s decision-making.”
Saint John of God director Dr. Charles Masulani Mwale, whose institution provides counselling and rehabilitation services, said suicide had become a health problem in Malawi.
He said they attend to at least three people presenting with suicide intentions every day at their Mzuzu clinic.
Mwale said while the country developed a National Suicide Prevention Strategy which details what government should do to reduce suicide cases, the strategy is yet to become operational.
He also called for improved financial literacy education, saying, people should learn to live within their means, and be told the effects of being indebted.
In an earlier interview, a mental health expert Dr. Precious Makiyi said culturally, manhood is viewed as being strong and resilient and that a man ought not to cry or complain when they are psychologically down.
Sociologist Charles Chilimampunga also stated that many men commit suicide because they do not share their problems with others.
Police statistics show that the country recorded 281 suicide cases from January to June 2024 compared to 220 cases during the same period the preious year.
Deputy National Police spokesperson Harry Namwaza said out of these cases, 246 were males and 35 were females. In 2023 during the same period, 198 males and 22 females committed suicide respectively.
