Coast residents relying on traditional healers, religion to prevent suicides – Kemri
Globally, deaths by suicide accounts for about 1.4 percent of all deaths. Associating suicide with superstition is driving locals from the coastal counties to traditional healers and religious leaders.
New findings by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) Wellcome Trust Research Programme show that associating suicide with superstition is the reason many Kenyans in Mombasa and Kilifi counties are seeking help from traditional and religious leaders as opposed to mental health professionals.
A study on the sociocultural perspectives on suicidal behaviour found that most people in the region perceive death by suicide as resulting from some form of possession.
Speaking to the Nation, Dr Linnet Ongeri, a psychiatrist and research scientist at Kemri who was the principal investigator of the peer-reviewed study, said the findings will help them develop apt policy intervention guidelines on suicide.
“We were trying to understand how people conceptualise suicides in our communities and there are varying beliefs as some people look at suicides as a taboo subject while others look at them as acts of valour. Understanding these people’s perspectives enables us to come up with apt policy intervention guidelines,” she said.
Some of the superstitious beliefs around suicide are the perception that people resort to it due to sorcery or inherited curses.
Dr Ongeri explained that the findings provide an in-depth understanding of cultural factors related to suicide in the rural communities that may engender stigma, discrimination and poor access to mental healthcare.
“We recommend suicide prevention interventions targeted at changing stigmatising attitudes, beliefs and behaviours, and improving access to mental healthcare in the community.”
Dr Ongeri says that most people still find talking about suicide as well as their own suicidal thoughts uncomfortable.
“Ninety per cent of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental condition, which is why mental health services need to be affordable and accessible while gatekeepers like pastors and traditional healers need to be trained. We cannot neglect them because of our cultural beliefs,” he said.
“I think to an extent because suicide is criminalised in this country, it adds to the stigma. A number of countries have actually decriminalised suicide because the fear of persecution has an impact.”
Stephanie Musho, a human rights lawyer based in Nairobi, agrees with Dr Ongeri.
“Legally, attempted suicide is criminalised by the Penal Code (Cap. 63 of the Laws of Kenya), which prescribes in section 226 a penalty of up to two years in prison, a fine or both. The phrase ‘commit suicide’ connotes and perpetuates the stigma around mental health and attempted suicides. This is an outdated law that Kenya inherited from its colonisers. It is redundant,” she said.
She explained that the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, guarantees certain rights that the current law on attempted suicide contravenes.
“Firstly, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to healthcare services as articulated in Article 43 (1) (a),” she said.
“Psychiatry is indeed an area of medicine. Condemning medical patients to prison as opposed to facilitating their treatment goes against the right to health.
“Additionally, Article 25 (a) that guarantees as a fundamental freedom (meaning it may not be limited) the freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
“Giving impetus to this is Article 29(d) that goes ahead to highlight and protect persons from psychological torture. By subjecting psychiatric patients to jail and denying them the care and treatment they need, the government remains in violation of these constitutional provisions.”
She added: “When the same persons are arrested and prosecuted in open court, where there are judicial officers, the media and the general public, their constitutional right to privacy as provided for in Article 31 is grossly violated. Moreover, every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected.
“In law, when considering the characteristics of a crime, one of the requisites is mens rea, which means that criminal intent must be present. In cases of attempted suicide, this often lacks and is largely driven by a mental disability rather than a criminal mind.”
The lawyer would like to see the law changed.
“Looking at the statistics, criminalising attempted suicide is counterproductive. It is not a deterrent in the least. Instead, it only discourages mental health patients from accessing much needed treatment and care due to fear, exacerbating their suffering,” she said.
“Therefore, the problematic clause must, as a matter of urgency, be expunged from the Penal Code to align with the Constitution.
“Under international law, Kenya also has responsibilities pertaining to human rights.
“It must then also fulfil these obligations by ensuring harmony between domestic law and international conventions and protocols.”
