By Esther Onyegbula

As the world marks World Suicide Prevention Day today, September 10, it is worth noting that depression and suicide are serious mental health issues that have been on the rise in Nigeria, especially among the youth population. According to Health Think, about seven million Nigerians suffer from depression. The Third Mainland Bridge which is the longest of three bridges that connect Lagos Island to the mainland in Lagos, Nigeria, has also increasingly become known for its association with suicidal behaviours.

Just recently, the CEO of a leading skincare company in Nigeria tried to jump off the Third Mainland Bridge, but for the intervention of onlookers who went swiftly into action to prevent her from taking her life.

While the high depression and suicide rate in Nigeria can largely be associated with the current economic situation of the country, it is important to note that other factors also contribute to depression and suicide.

Recently some suicide survivors through Speakup4help Foundation, shared their experience with Vanguard on their battle with depression and suicidal tendencies.

‘I’m glad I didn’t do it’

According to 29-year-old Lawrence: “A call on December 10, 2021, changed the course of my life in a way that still affects me. The call was to inform me that my father had a stroke and had been rushed to the hospital. Being the only unmarried person among my siblings, I felt it was my duty to shoulder most of the financial responsibilities since my older brothers were married and had responsibilities in their homes.

“I thought the treatment would not go beyond three months, so I did not mind putting in my savings to the last penny, I even got loans from my workplace and loan apps too and that was when my nightmare began. My creditors started to request their money, but I didn’t have it to pay back as I had used up most of my money for my father’s treatment and even lost the rest to a bad investment. The loan apps started spreading news about my debt and I began to lose clients.

“During this same period, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and oral ulcer and there was no money to pay for treatment or get the prescribed drugs. Depression set in. I was placed on anti-depressants, but this didn’t seem to be helping so I started taking alcohol to sleep. I also sold off most of my properties to raise money, but it didn’t do much with setting off my debt as it had already compounded.

“With no improvement in my father’s health, battling with my sickness, and the burden of the unpaid loans, giving up became so easy and I lost faith in everything. Anti-depressants and alcohol could no longer provide relief, so I decided to end it all. I set out for this on August 29, 2022, and would have succeeded but for two friends who got the hidden message behind my social media post and reached out.

“My healing journey began in April 2023 when I got introduced to Speakup4help foundation which provided therapy.

“Although these challenges linger, I am now convinced that I am getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel and I am glad I didn’t succeed in taking my life.”

Suicidal entrepreneurship

Like Lawrence, another suicide survivor Demola, said his travails began when he quit his monthly job in 2020 to get a car on hire purchase, hoping to enter fully into entrepreneurship. But what he didn’t know was that he was setting himself up for a life of troubles.

According to Demola “It was a very exciting idea. I wanted to make my own money and not have to answer to anyone while earning a meagre salary. Everything was going fine for the first two months after I got the car on hire purchase until I started having issues with the car. I spent all the money I had saved up on repairing the car, then I started borrowing money from everyone around me, including several loan platforms because I had to pay a percentage to the owner of the vehicle every week and there was a contract binding us and inability to make payment after two weeks, I would have to return the car to the owner regardless of how much I had paid him so far, so I was determined to keep the car.

“The pressure and threats from all angles put me under a lot of stress. I didn’t even have money to feed, and I could go days without eating. Around the same time, my girlfriend broke up with me saying I was good for nothing. Every family member cut me off because I had become the bad egg. I started to emaciate and the only thing I could see then was death. But, thankfully, I was able to return the car and I got a remote job, which helped me bounce back on my feet.”

Family troubles

Sharing her journey, 27-year-old graduate, Freda, revealed that family troubles pushed her towards suicide.

Freda said: “The year was 2016 and I was still a 200-level student of sciences at the University of Port Harcourt. My parents were going through a tough time in their marriage and my father had left the house and abandoned us in Lagos to relocate to the Eastern part of Nigeria. My mother would always call me in school to complain about my father. She barely called to check on me, and it was mostly about her turbulent marriage. I was an introverted child, and this made me internalise a lot of these things and before I knew it, it started to take a toll on my mental health and my grades started to drop too.

“My parents officially got separated and this added to my anxiety. My mother had warned against visiting my dad, but I had a bond with my father and couldn’t afford not to see him, especially since he was diabetic and was unwell at the time while battling a financial crisis. I would go against my mother’s advise and visit him from school. This made my mother furious. Despite being a teenager, I didn’t realise I had automatically become the emotional support for my parents.

“I took an interest in playing volleyball to escape the problems at home, but it still wasn’t helping. I became depressed, cut everyone off, became isolated and started battling with insomnia.

“I was prescribed tramadol for an injury I had sustained while playing volleyball. Then, one day, I decided I was tired of the emotional pain I was going through at home and concluded it was best to end it all. I took more than the recommended dosage of tramadol to end my life and blanked out afterwards. But, for the intervention of some medical students who rushed me to the hospital, I would have died. Afterwards, I decided to take my mental health more seriously and leaned to writing as an escape. I also had friends who were there for me through the journey.”

‘Depression is a dark hole’

Talking about her experience with grief and how this pushed her into a dark hole, 28-year-old Oluchi another suicide survivor, said: “I am one of the few people who always boasted that nothing could make me feel depressed. I am a merry-go person and always believed I had control over my life, not until I made some mistakes. My depressive episodes started when I gave my entire life savings, running into millions to my friend to invest in the stock market. I had hoped to double my money and invest it into my mother’s business and use the rest of the money for my international master’s programme.

“But shortly after I sent her the money, the stock market crashed, and she informed me about this loss. I was so devastated. I had also just quit my job, hoping to fall back on my profit from my investment. I had no money to feed and, amid this, my mother fell sick and since I was the backbone of the family at the time following my elder brother’s demise, I spent the little money I got from contract work to sort her hospital bills.

“My mother’s health didn’t seem to be improving and this took a toll on my mental health as I feared losing her since she was everything to me. The financial situation at home had also become worse and this brought regular problems between her and my father.

“I watched my mother start to slip away. She wasn’t getting any better and shortly after, she died. I was devastated and had to be put on anxiety pills to sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about her death. I was traumatised and tortured by having to lose two close family members in such a short time, coupled with the financial crisis I was going through, being diagnosed with ulcer and not being in any relationship at the time. I started to worry about everything and could no longer control my thoughts till I lost my mind and slipped into anxiety, panic attacks and finally depression.

“One day, I visited a friend as an escape from my problems and seeing how happily he talked to his lover over the phone, I slipped into a deep state of hopelessness and at that time, the only thing on my mind was to end it all. But, with the help of my friend who stood by me through the night and my therapist whom I had on standby, I was able to make it out alive. Depression is a dark hole, and you never know when you start slipping into it. I am glad I survived.”

According to Adeola Eka, Co-Founder of Speakup4help, “Mental health crisis is more common than we think in Nigeria and there are fewer than 250 psychiatrists for Nigeria’s population of over 200 million people, with most of the mental health services restricted to urban areas. There is also the issue of prevailing stigma surrounding mental health issues, which often deters people from seeking help. But struggling with depression is not the end and anyone can survive it by employing the right preventive methods like recognising early warnings, fostering strong social connections, adapting to a healthy lifestyle, and speaking up for help.

“General management of depression and suicide requires a multidisciplinary approach that involves increasing government commitment to mental health issues, augmenting the number of mental health professionals and making them more accessible, developing community-based mental health programs, and implementation of comprehensive suicide prevention strategies that encompasses screening, prevention, and intervention to provide immediate assistance to individuals living with mental health issues.

“At Speakup4help Foundation, our goal is to work towards the eradication of mental health challenges by creating awareness of mental health issues and promoting healthy lifestyles through necessary intervention, education and therapy for groups and individuals in society. We major in mental health crises caused by poverty, substance abuse, stigmatisation, violence, marriage, and relationship issues, as well as Grief. We empower individuals through free counseling and diagnosing as well as psychological therapy.”

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