Aisha Dadi, the Program Director at the Society for Family Health, emphasized the urgent necessity for comprehensive strategies to address the increasing incidence of adolescent suicide, particularly among individuals aged 10 to 19.
She highlighted concerning statistics revealing that one in seven adolescents globally is affected by mental health disorders, accounting for 13% of the disease burden in this age group worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, suicide ranks as the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds globally and the second leading cause in Africa.
In a recent virtual workshop titled “Community Mobilisation for Suicide Prevention in Nigeria,” organized by the Nigeria Suicide Prevention Advocacy Working Group led by Prof Taiwo Sheikh, Aisha Dadi expressed the need to shift the focus towards compassionate care rather than punitive measures to combat the rising suicide rates in Nigeria.
Dadi underscored the challenges faced by today’s adolescents, including depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders, compounded by adverse circumstances such as poverty, financial limitations, and various forms of discrimination.
She highlighted issues like cyberbullying, displacement in humanitarian crises, and forced marriages as contributing factors to the escalating mental health crisis among young people. To effectively tackle these challenges, Dadi advocated for a collaborative approach involving healthcare professionals, educators, family members, and the community at large.
In mobilizing youth for suicide prevention, she emphasized the importance of integrating mental health education into school curricula to enhance awareness from a young age. Dadi also proposed the establishment of peer support groups and mentorship programs to offer young individuals a supportive platform for addressing their difficulties.
Additionally, she suggested leveraging various media platforms to raise awareness and promote mental health resources, while encouraging young people to engage in local mental health initiatives and advocacy campaigns to advocate for mental health policies.
She added, “Not only among adults we have young people, even adolescents, having challenges around suicide ideation, and from data, we know that one in seven adolescents, 10 to 19 years, globally experience mental health disorder. They contribute to 13 per cent of the global disease burden of that age group, which results from depression, anxiety, and behaviour disorder.
“One in six people aged 10 to 19 years adolescent have marked physical, emotional challenges that could lead to mental health issues, especially adverse conditions like poverty. When Prof was presenting, we saw that in this part of the world, financial constraint also is one of the causes of suicide intent or ideation among the people.
“So globally, we also estimated that one out of 14 per cent of adolescents globally experiences mental health disorders. So this context can go on and on for us to understand issues that could lead to suicide ideation and eventual suicide.”
On how to prevent suicide among youths, she noted, “We need great education and awareness campaign, peer support program, media outreach, social media outreach, engaging the community activities outreach, and also involving the youth leadership to engage in advocacy among their peers.
“We also need to partner with NGOs and community groups to amplify the message and reach underserved populations in our communities.
“We need to train young people to offer counsel, establish support groups where young people can discuss challenges within themselves, peer youth together to ensure that everyone has someone to talk with.”
Dadi emphasized the importance of reducing stigma around mental health issues and creating a supportive environment to address adolescent suicide.
She recommended establishing safe spaces in schools, preventing bullying, and strengthening community networks. Dadi highlighted the World Health Organization’s (WHO) suicide prevention strategies, including primary, selective, and indicative prevention, as crucial frameworks.
She noted that Nigeria is adopting these strategies, along with evidence-based interventions and the MHGAP Intervention Guide 2.0, to effectively support adolescents.
Dadi urged stakeholders to recognize their critical role in suicide prevention and encouraged a collaborative effort to implement these strategies, which can significantly impact the mental health and well-being of young people.
