The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Many persons know the feeling of numbness, shock, disbelief and the deathly silence that grips us all when we hear of suicides in our bright and sunny tourist-loving community. This feeling is especially magnified when the individual who masterminds his own self-destruction decides to take others to their death as well.

I remember reading sometime ago that it takes somewhere in the neighbourhood of eighty years for a family to get over a suicide – I find this especially telling in light of the fact that the God-given lifespan of man is roughly seventy years.

I recently heard a quote attributed to Dr Gomez made in his defence of the NHI plan:

“If you are black and you are poor, you die. Surely, a tax is better than death.”

Clearly a man as level headed and as cerebral as the renowned and reputed Dr Gomez can appreciate and agree with my meaning when I say: “Surely, life is better than suicide!”

Dr Gomez, I submitted a very well received piece to your Ministry to aid in the fight to discourage suicides in the country. In fact, it was so well received that a gathering of mental health professionals gave it a standing ovation; and two of the country’s top psychiatrists have also endorsed it with written letters. After I submitted my material as well as the letters to your office early last year, the PS staff also requested the lyrics for further consideration. But no response ever came by way of written correspondence.

No one knows when or where the next suicide will occur (it can happen in a suburb or a ghetto). Neither do we have a heads up on when the next mentally depressed or unstoppable individual will run down a corridor to his own destruction. So it behooves us then to put out over the airwaves a recurring message of hope to extricate or soothingly bring back the minds of those with suicidal tendencies from their depressed and seemingly hopeless state.

If heaven can punish a man for not utilising his talents, tell me – what measure will it meet out to those who can see the usefulness of a talent as well as the promise of its potential and despite the prevailing sentiment decide to sit on it? But no, I will not be hasty in my rush to judgment because “oversight” can sometimes be just as real and just as tangible as any other option on the table.

Dr Peter Marshall, the eloquent, charismatic and gifted Scots-American preacher who served as chaplain in the US Senate once offered this brief prayer: “May God keep us from hotheads that act too quickly and from cold feet that will not act at all!”

Here are the letters written by the noted psychiatrists that were sent to the Ministry of Health in support of the song about suicide:

Psychiatrist #1, Jan 2014: “I have listened to the CD, and I believe that the message is delivered with clarity. It certainly sends a message of hope that may make a difference to an individual contemplating self harm. This CD can be used effectively over the airwaves and I support any effort to ensure that it is circulated and aired.”

Psychiatrist #2, Sept 24, 2013: “This is to certify that (the) song, ‘Suicide’ is a good depiction of the inner struggles that individuals face when contemplating suicide. At a time in our country when so many of our young men and women are contemplating, attempting and committing suicide, the song comes as a fitting media-friendly delivery to educate the populace. I would like to thank (the writer) for his creativity and profound contribution.”

I will again repeat what was said before: “Surely, life is better than suicide.” I have no doubt that the good Minister of Health and the PS are both sober thinkers and reasonable men. Both can appreciate a remedy and are surrounded by experts that know a solution when they see or hear one. How serious is the Ministry of Health about reducing the suicide rate? My guess? I think they are serious. But as a wise old grandmother always cautioned: “Only time will tell.”

ONE SUICIDE, IS ONE TOO MANY  

Nassau,

March 28, 2015.