A Mental Health Practitioner and advocate Dr. Daniel Adjei has supported the call for immediate legislation in Ghana that decriminalizes suicide.
Section 57 of the Criminal Offences Act – 1960, stipulates that, anybody who tries to take their life through suicide, commits a misdemeanour, whereas anybody who aids or abets another person’s suicide commits a first-degree felony. Nonetheless, a person who makes an unsuccessful attempt at suicide may be fined, sentenced to three months in jail, or both by a competent court of law.
But speaking to Noel Nutsugah, host of Statecraft on Zylofon 102.1 FM, June 16, 2021, Dr. Adjei intimated that criminalizing suicide have made it more difficult for individuals to seek assistance but rather choose to confide in others about their desire to commit suicide.
He insists that, rather than punishing such individuals, anybody who has contemplated or attempted suicide should seek urgent assistance from a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. He said annually, 800,000 individuals die by suicide globally – with one person dying of suicide in every forty five seconds.
The Mental Health practitioner has previously sounded the alarm over the country’s rising suicide rate. He said that the country’s economic condition, along with the shortcomings of our social institutions, contribute to the increase in suicide occurrences.
Dr. Adjei thus urged the government and other stakeholders to properly fund projects in relation to mental health in order to conduct baseline research and implement appropriate mental health policies to reverse the trend.
“As a result of this phenomena, a greater number of individuals are left bereaved by suicide or have been close to someone who attempted suicide. Each life lost symbolizes a spouse, a kid, a parent, a friend, or a coworker”
Around 135 individuals experience severe sorrow or are adversely impacted by each suicide. This equates to 108 million individuals affected severely by suicide behavior each year. These individuals often have a life-altering event that, if not appropriately addressed, leaves them with such profound scars for the remainder of their lives, impairing their quality of life and contribution to national economic growth, he added.
