The Psychological Association of Ghana has commended Parliament for amending the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) to decriminalize attempted suicide in the nation.
The association believes decriminalizing attempted suicide was long overdue because anyone who attempts suicide is presumed to have a severe mental disorder, and the provisions of the Mental Health Act apply to psychological treatment.
Under the new Amendment Act, no one will be prosecuted for attempted suicide, which remains a major public health problem.
The Association General Secretary, Dr Richmond Acquah-Coleman revealed that just recently Ghana recorded a constant increase in suicidal cases which needs an urgent approach to tackle the menace.
Dr Richmond Acquah-Coleman made the pronouncement on Koforidua-based Afeema FM in a phone interview with Kaakyire Kwasi Afari on Thursday, 30th March 2023.
According to him, statistics show that youth and children below the age of 18 years commit suicide because they don’t get access to psychologists and mental health workers to intervene in their challenges.
However, Dr Coleman admonished the youth not to consider suicide as an alternative to resolving their challenges, but to seek proper counselling.
“It’s not proper to think that when you have depression and distress, the ultimate thing is that you go and take your life since you cannot recover your life back. Suicide is not a solution to your problems,” he told Kaakyire Kwasi Afari.
Dr Richmond Acquah-Coleman outlined some stressful experiences that may contribute to or trigger suicide such as; the loss of an important person through death or divorce, a sense of failure at school, stigmatization, and the experience of discrimination, isolation, and neglect among others.
Meanwhile, in a collective approach to eradicate suicide cases in our society, Dr Acquah-Coleman has called on the government to commit greater investment in mental health.
He emphasized that “It’s significant to prioritize both aspects of your well-being,” he stated.
The Authority told Afeema News that the government must invest in mental health to support improved access to psychotropic medicines, provision of adequate funding, recruit more psychiatric professionals and expand mental health infrastructure across the country.
He again called on all stakeholders to rise up to the challenge to spend at least a minute to educate and support people to increase information and support to help eliminate suicide and save lives.
Dr Coleman said, “The problem is in our part of the world mental health is attached with religious implications; when someone is mentally ill, we think it is a spiritual thing or curse” he stated.
Dr Richmond Acquah-Coleman pointed out that there’s no scientific proof to link suicide to a spiritual curse.
