Today was observed as World Mental Health Day under the theme Mental Health Promotion & suicide prevention.
The Ministry of Health, PAHO, and the Belize Mental Health Association hosted an event at the Bliss Center for several Belize city high schools.
The event's overall objective: raising awareness of mental health issues in Belize and mobilizing efforts in support of suicide prevention.
We stopped by to hear from the professionals about this very real problem that's rarely, if ever, openly discussed. Cherisse Halsall reports:
Suicide is among the top twenty leading causes of death worldwide, with more deaths due to suicide than to malaria, breast cancer, war, and homicide. Close to 800 000 people die by suicide every year.
A 2019 study entitled Global, regional, and national burden of suicide mortality 1990 to 2016 States that despite a decline in the global suicide rate, a few countries, including Belize have experienced an increase in the suicide rate during the period 1990 to 2016.
Jorge Polanco - PAHO "A prior suicide attempt is the single most important risk factor for suicide in the general population, very important to know, 75% of global suicides occur in countries like Belize. Who is at risk suicide is linked to mental disorders and it can affect any person many suicides happen in moments of crisis. It is crucial to bring mental health to the forefront, it is crucial for teachers to put this theme on the top of their list, there is a need to begin speaking of it to begin looking out for signs and symptoms and considering it as a priority so as to be able to make timely response. We all have specific roles to play."
The students at today's ceremony had a chance to learn more about the reality of Belizean statistics concerning suicide and how gender roles can become the determining factor in crippling mental illness and suicide.
Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services "Our data our national data for 2018 indicates that we had 113 attempts in 2018 and that is the attempts we know have that may have sought attention at the public health facility. 27 of those were males and 4 of those were females. Females are usually going to be the ones who have more health seeking behaviors so it may be that males have more attempts but are not going to seek any particular health behavior. Females are more likely to attempt but are not going to be able to carry through suicide as opposed to males that are used to have more drastic measures and carry the suicide without it being counted as an attempt. Most of these attempts were between the 15-19 age group and that's when your just starting to live."
The ceremony's final speaker was Ms. Sahar Vasquez, a courageous young woman who overcame her own suicide attempt and went on the co-found a mental health NGO through which she has gone on to make her own global impact.
Sahar Vasquez - Co-Founder Mind Health Connect "Mental illness is as serious as physical illness so if you or a loved one is suffering in silence, don't be afraid to ask for help. I share my story publicly because I want people to know they are not alone. On September 24th I got the biggest opportunity of my life to share my story at the United Nations in New York it wasn't easy but it was worth it because maybe that day I saved a life and opened a window of hope."
The event ended in a celebratory mood with a green balloon drop and the hope that the students left the 90 minute session with some sense of the importance of mental health to a society which cannot afford to lose the vibrancy of its young people.
PAHO says that it recognizes the urgency of formalizing mental health interventions, specifically for the school environment.
Last year, the organization, along with the Ministries of Education and Health conducted trainings for high school teachers to sensitize them to behaviors that can represent early signs of mental health problems, and to make appropriate referrals. They plan to follow up with these training sessions in the first semester of 2020.
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