How to end rising suicide, depression cases

A feature on SURPIN and suicide prevention by Adekunle Yusuf of The Nation Newspaper

Dr. Raphael Ogbolu, a consultant psychiatrist, who is the Coordinator of Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) and the national representative for the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) lamented that the country does not have any structured suicide prevention initiative or strategy despite having high suicide-related cases. He said the initiative has, as at the end of February this year, received through its hotlines up to 150 calls from people who were in crisis or severely depressed. He added that half of these crisis calls were from young adults from 22 states in the country and Ghana.

Consultant Psychiatrist, coordinator of SURPIN and the national representative for the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), Dr. Raphael Ogbolu, addressing the public on suicide prevention and awareness

“This should be a worrying concern. With the country’s demographics of mostly a youthful population, it should concern everyone that young Nigerians are ending their own lives. More than half of those crisis calls were from students. We realized that there needs to be a more coordinated effort to address the issue of suicide among the youths, starting from the schools,”

Despite a lack of up-to-date records, Nigeria is one of the READ MORE...