A mental health advisor Naeem Dalal said more African men would die by suicide, if they failed to get emotional and mental wellness support.
According to him, this is necessary as statistics specifically show that more men die by suicide on the continent.
Dr Dalal who works with the Non-communicable Diseases, Injuries and Mental Health for AfricaCDC, was speaking in Lusaka, Zambia, on the sidelines of a parallel session on youth mental health in Africa, at the International Conference on Public Health in Africa. The annual event runs from November 27 to November 30.
Dalal is a psychiatrist from Lusaka, Zambia, a youth mental health specialist and currently the National Mental Health, focal person and specialist for the Zambia National Public Health Institute.
He said: “There is more active suicide amongst men. When we talk about suicide, we need to understand two things. There’s suicide which is passive and suicide, which is active. Active suicide is where you die by suicide. Passive suicide is where you have thoughts of dying by killing yourself or harming yourself, but you don’t go ahead with those thoughts. So, that’s passive suicide.
“Now, when we talk about statistics specifically for men on the continent in Africa, more men die by suicide. So, there’s more active suicide amongst men. For every 50 per cent of it, it is amongst the men that die and this is because men use more lethal with dying.’’
Mr Dalal highlighted some reasons that make men resort to suicide rather than seek help.
“It’s also important to understand that men do not reach out for help for mental health concerns or issues that they face because of the culture that we have in Africa, where men are supposed to be supportive. Men are supposed to be responsible and breadwinners in communities. Showing that part of vulnerability is not something that is accepted in our communities across the African continent in general.
“And not just to stereotype it, but also to be factual that men are also taught not to be reaching out for help growing up as boys and boys are told to be strong and responsible. So, this also causes an issue for men to reach out for mental health services, even when they are there.
“These are the challenges we are facing,’’ he told NAN.
