It is against the backdrop of these shocking statistics that the SA Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) this week launches South Africa’s second Teen Suicide Prevention Week.

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As the veil continues to be gradually lifted on SA’s staggering suicide crisis, which annually claims the lives of thousands of teenagers from all walks of life, SADAG plans intensifying its campaign, "Suicide Shouldn’t Be a Secret" with a nationwide focus on the problem.

One of the highlights of Teen Suicide Prevention Week, from 23 – 29 February, will be a visit by SA’s "pocket-rocket of boxing", Baby Jake Matlala to Alexandra High School for a presentation on suicide prevention and how friends, parents and teachers can identify the symptoms of severe depression.

Having launched the country’s first toll-free Suicide Crisis Line – 0800 567 567 - in conjunction with the Minister of Health, last year, SADAG has also recently embarked on a massive drive to improve mental health care in far-flung and desperately impoverished rural areas in the Northern Cape and Northwest provinces.

"The ‘Suicide Shouldn't Be A Secret’ programme is aimed at empowering teachers, students and parents to become more alert to the signs and symptoms of depression and suicide," says Julia Zacharis, SADAG’s general manager.

"Trained counsellors visit schools and conduct interactive workshops with students, talking to them about depression and why they shouldn't keep it a secret if a friend or loved one shows signs of suicidal tendencies.

"Students who have attended a workshop frequently come to us afterwards saying things such as, ‘I was sad for a long time, now I know that I could have depression’." Zacharis adds.

Children commit suicide for many reasons including extreme poverty, dysfunctional families with abuse and divorce, peer pressure, failure to achieve at school or even serious illness. Research by Professor Lourens Schlebusch of Durban’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine has shown that people with HIV/Aids are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than people without the disease.

Parents, teachers and students need to become more aware of depression and suicide for them to be able to look out for a troubled teenager.

A 12-year-old caller to SADAG’s suicide line told a counsellor, " I just want to die. I feel so sad and I have no-one to talk to."

A 17-year-old said "People do not understand me; I just want to end this pain."

"I am responsible for my parents not being together anymore. Maybe if I die then they will be together again," a 14-year-old said.

The anti-suicide project was initiated by SADAG in 2000 to bring the message to teenagers that, if a friend said directly or indirectly that they were planning to kill themselves, they should tell a teacher or parent.

"If they feel they cannot confide in others, trained counsellors are on hand Monday to Friday from 8am till 8pm, and Saturdays from 8am till 5pm a week on SADAG’s toll-free line," says Zacharis. "It might sound harsh, but our message to them is that it is far better to risk a friendship than the life of a friend!"

- Issued by the Depression and Anxiety Group
 

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