Online Reporter
Cuthbert Mavheko, [email protected]
According to some reports, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- 29-year-olds.
Suicide accounts for 1,8 percent of all deaths in Zimbabwe, with higher rates among men than women.
A 2020 report from the Zimbabwe Republic Police indicated that between 2015 and 2019, 2 058 men and 505 women died by suicide. The Progressive Teachers’ union of Zimbabwe was also quoted as stating that the country loses approximately 30 teachers and six learners every year to suicide.
But what causes people to kill themselves?
This is a question uppermost in the minds of many people today.
Depression, a mental health disorder, has been identified as the key driver behind the suicide trend.
One psychoanalyst said: “Severe financial hardships, poverty, joblessness and drug and alcohol abuse cause depression, a mental health disorder, which has run like a heavy dark thread throughout the fabric of human history.
“Men and women all over the world have suffered periods of dark emotions that shrouded their lives in feelings of utter despair, hopelessness and helplessness. Mental depression is one of humanity’s most common illnesses, taking a tremendous toll on marriages, productivity, human growth and happiness.
“Mental depression knows no class barriers. It afflicts both rich and poor people. And although it rises abruptly in incidence with adolescent years, it is also becoming a growing problem in younger children, leading to increasingly more youthful suicides.
“Most depressed feelings begin in response to a specific loss, fear of loss or if there seems to be no way of retrieving which has been lost. The depressive cycle leads to collapse of self-worth, then to self-depreciation, then to a feeling that the situation is hopeless.
“Hopeless attitudes produce changes in responses of the mind and body, which begin to immobilise a person. These feelings can be coupled with a total loss of self-esteem, unremitting guilt, shame and eventually suicide.”
It is sad to note that life is riddled with many distressing things: the birth of a defective child, the loss of a job, the disintegration of a marriage, and the death of a loved one. These are some of the
major traumas that we face at one time or another.
And even those who seem capable of coping with minor letdowns, sometimes fall apart and take their lives when a bitter disappointment comes along. There are different ways of reacting to life’s vicissitudes.
Some people try to cope by fleeing reality. They occupy their minds with various forms of entertainment, or seek relief through drugs and alcohol. Such reactions may soften life’s blows by diverting one’s attention. But there is a better way, one that comes to terms with reality. It has to do with understanding the purpose of human life.
We must not blind our eyes to the hard, cold facts of reality. We are living in an age of skepticism.
Modern education has given universal acceptance to the fable of evolution. For the benefit of the
uninformed, evolution is the agnostic’s or atheist’s attempt to explain the existence of a creation without the preexistence of the Creator.
Evolution removes God from the picture. Conversely, the Christian Bible, which was inspired to be a guide in faith and worship, reveals that God exists, and that He is the Creator of everything in the vast universe—the stars, the galaxies in endless space, this earth, mankind and everything on this earth. It is important to understand that God put us on this earth for a purpose. The mental depressions, anxieties, trials and problems that we all encounter in life are not meant to be roadblocks. They are hurdles, and their purpose is to strengthen us, not defeat us. The realisation of this monumental truth can change a person’s perspective and enable him or her to overcome depression.
Therefore, it is important to state that Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Preamble states, quite clearly that: “We, the people of Zimbabwe, acknowledge the supremacy of Almighty God, in whose hands our future lies.”
It should be borne in mind that events in our lives often turn out very different from what we planned, sometimes painfully so. There’s consensus of opinion among sober, discerning and analytical church leaders that if we are to weather life’s fiery storms with peace of mind and be able to deal with anxiety and mental depression with confidence and a positive outlook, we should turn the reins of our lives to the One who created us, the Eternal God.
Put simply, we should align our lives with the teachings of the Holy Bible, which is our Benevolent Creator’s Instruction Manual to mankind. We should evaluate our habits, conduct, and thinking in the light of God’s inspired word, and we should change those areas of our lives that do not reflect
His values and instructions.
The Bible, in Galatians 5:21, reveals the things of this world that God abhors— adultery, fornication and so forth.
Does my life reflect God’s Word, or does it reflect this world?
This is a question that we all should ask ourselves, and must change where necessary.
One last point needs to be re-emphasised: Since it is God who created us, we need Him all the time, in bad or difficult times, as well as in good times. Our relationship with our Creator is the most important thing in our lives.
l Cuthbert Mavheko is a freelance journalist and theologian.
