Neither here nor there

Cong Corrales .

“A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile.” — Scottish Proverbs Collected and Arranged by Andrew Henderson, 1832, p.103

A CITY councilor here is suggesting that the surge in suicides in the city can be attributed to the decrease in religiosity in young people. He proposes that religious sessions should be made available for children as young as three years up to seven years old.

For religious people, this suggestion would sound feasible. However, to the critically minded, this suggestion is neither here nor there.

Has this councilor made a thorough study into the suicides in the city that he could pinpoint religiosity or the lack of it as the main reason why young people have been offing themselves lately?

In the study of C.S. Clarke, F.J. Bannon, and A. Denihan titled “Suicide and religiosity — Masaryk’s theory revisited,” it is argued that the lack of religiosity does not push an individual to commit suicide.

“The relationship between suicide rates and the religious climate of a community is a matter of controversy. Rising suicide rates have been attributed in part to a decline in religious observance, but contradictory evidence has been adduced,” the study reads in part.

Another study by the Department of Mental Health and the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland points out that religious people are even more susceptible to commit suicide against non-religious people.

By using data from a nationwide psychological autopsy study of all suicides in Finland in a year, authors H. Sorri, M Henriksson, and J Lönnqvist found out that a history of psychiatric inpatient treatment and psychotic and depressive disorders diagnosed in psychiatric care were more common among the religious people than among the nonreligious.

“The burden of major mental disorders have been heavier among religious than nonreligious victims,” the study concluded.

The notion that the suicides in the city lacked or were devoid of respect and fear of god is ignorant and unfair. It is unfair to the parents who have just lost their loved ones. This notion subtly points out that parents of suicides are “bad parents.” It is ignorant in the sense that it does not address suicides as a mental health issue.

Here in the Philippines, having a mental disorder still holds a stigma — a stigma of shame and embarrassment. We should be addressing a mental health issue with science and not public delusions of a transcendent being up in the heavens.

The Philippine Psychiatric Association estimated that one in five Filipinos has mental disorders. With that many people with mental disorders, I think now is the most opportune time to have a public discussion on mental health without the fear of being stigmatized.

In a CNN Philippines report, Dr. Gia Sison, national adviser of the Youth for Mental Health Coalition, said: “No one will never know if a person will be committing suicide or not, but there are warning signs.”

According to the Department of Health, symptoms of depressive disorder are excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness; diminished ability to concentrate, or indecisiveness; significant weight loss or weight gain; lack of sleep or oversleeping; fatigue or loss of energy; psychomotor agitation and slowness; and recurring thoughts of death or suicide.

We ought to be mindful of our youth who have been stressed by a society that has been so polarized and alienating that they feel helpless. We should remind our young ones that they can talk about depression and that it is nothing to be ashamed of.

To my young readers who feel they cannot talk to their parents please save these numbers: (02) 804-HOPE (4673) and 0917 558 HOPE (4673). There are people behind these phone lines 24 hours, seven days a week.

Don’t be ashamed to call. Don’t be afraid to seek help.