The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

SUICIDAL behaviour among young Bahamians has continued to increase this year, with Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre seeing most cases among people in their late teens through their mid-thirties, according to Chief of Staff Dr Srinivas Bodha.

He said the trend had become increasingly evident across school-aged and young adult populations.

“We see a lot in the younger generation, especially those starting in the late teens and going into the mid-thirties,” he said. “It is very rare in the older population. We may see one or two cases, but the predominant increase is in younger people.”

Dr Bodha identified social and behavioural pressures that are contributing to the rise.

“A lot of the school students are dealing with copycat behaviour and with taunting and bullying,” he said. “In the late twenties and early thirties, we see a lot of substance abuse and intoxication. For young ladies, there are broken relationships and broken homes and high rates of divorce. Those things drive them to that issue of ending their lives or attempting to do so.”

Despite increasing demand, he said mental health services remain underutilized.

“Very few people actually call in and take advantage of the suicide hotlines,” he said. “Our clinics are open all the time, and the emergency room is staffed with psychiatrists twenty-four seven. People can walk in, and there is no charge, but the public is not taking advantage of these resources.”

He said stigma remains a major barrier to timely intervention.

“A lot of people are scared to say they are depressed or that their life is not worth it,” he said. “Eight out of ten are not honest when you ask them if they feel suicidal because they are afraid someone will laugh at them or that it will be recorded somewhere. More needs to be done, but stigma is still a problem.”

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has also raised concern about the toll suicide is taking among men. During an installation banquet of the Pride of Grand Bahama Lodge No. 7 in Grand Bahama on Saturday, he said: “Then there is the area that is often whispered about, but seldom addressed head on. Suicide. Most of those deaths are males. Our men are leaving this world by their own hand far more often than our women. That tells me that many men are carrying pain, shame and confusion in silence. This is what I mean when I speak of a male crisis.”

Police data underscored the concern. The Royal Bahamas Police Force’s mid-year report, released in July, recorded eight suicides between January and June, up from five during the same period in 2024, with attempted suicides rising from 23 to 32. Six of the eight deaths involved men. The two female victims were between 18 and 30 years old. Police reported no suicides among minors.

Five of the suicides occurred in New Providence, two in Grand Bahama, and one in the Family Islands. Attempted suicides were similarly concentrated in the major islands.

Most suicide cases remained concentrated among younger adults, but police recently investigated the suspected suicide of a 61-year-old man in Westridge, a case officials noted was uncommon among older Bahamians. Relatives found the man, identified as Arnoldi Simms, hanging inside his T Rose Circle home earlier this month. Superintendent Sheria King said officers met an adult male in his early sixties at the scene.

According to The Tribune’s records, it was the fourteenth suicide reported this year.

Older adult suicides remain uncommon, Dr Bodha said, noting that Sandilands had seen only a handful of such cases this year.

“We may see one or two cases, but the predominant increase is in younger people,” he said.

He said families and friends should closely monitor people who abruptly withdraw from others or show sudden changes in behaviour.

“Sometimes when we do not see someone for a week or so, it is best we check on them,” he said. “If given a second chance or an extra moment to think, many of the victims would not have ended up that way.”