Church needs to help tackle suicide as cases increase

The death of a medical practitioner, a police woman in St Ann and a  37-year-old   mechanic from May Pen, Clarendon all suspected of committing suicide in the space of one week, has reignited concerns about the increase in the number of Jamaicans taking their lives.

According to media reports, the 29-year-old doctor, who is of an Independence City in Portmore, St Catherine address, was employed at The University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew. He was reportedly found dead in his car at the back of the doctors’ quarters on the hospital compound last week Thursday morning. He was found unresponsive by another medical doctor and there was blood coming from his nose and mouth.

Prior to this incident, Constable Alsiania Flynch of St Ann allegedly shot herself in the head on February 21. She was rushed to the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. The latest suicide case that has garnered media coverage involves 37-year-old Gamine Morgan, a mechanic from May Pen, Clarendon, who was found at his home on Friday, February 28. His stepson discovered his body hanging from a staircase with a  sheet tied around his neck.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said the country had seen a notable increase in the number of suicides between December 2022 and January 2023, with the majority of these tragic deaths being older men. Police data indicates that there were 27 reported suicides between November and January. This is  a significant increase compared to previous years. Of these, 23 were men, with the majority being over the age of 40.

Of the 10 suicides in December 2022, half of them were men from the parish of St Ann. There were 14 suicides registered in January 2023 overall. The police said  there is need for interventions at the sub-national level that fall outside the realm of policing. A  total of 66 Jamaicans committed suicide in 2023, while there were 67 in 2024.

 “The reasons for this increase in suicides are not yet fully understood, yet some experts might suggest that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic and social challenges may be contributing factors. The pandemic has brought unprecedented levels of stress and uncertainty to people’s lives, and for older men in particular, the isolation and lack of support can be especially devastating,” the organisation stated in a press release, while noting that since the start of January 2020 and the end of January 2023, a total of 173 suicides were  recorded.

“We encourage families, religious groups and other non-governmental organisations to play their part in preventing suicides by reaching out to loved ones who may be struggling and offering support and encouragement. This may involve having difficult conversations about mental health, or simply being there to listen when someone needs to talk,” the JCF said.

While acknowledging that not all cases of suicidal ideations are demonic, Dr Donovan Thomas, a noted suicidologist told the Freedom Come Rain  that it is important for the church to be able to distinguish between an individual who is in need of deliverance versus one who needs medical or psychological assistance.

“We have to test the spirit, just as we do with other things and be able to determine if this spirit is of God and to take authority in the name of Jesus. That’s why the church has to pray against the spirit of suicide in this nation; that is why the church has to be very deliberate in recognising that principalities and powers are at work in this nation as it relates to suicide,” Dr. Thomas told editors and reporters in 2023 during the second staging of Freedom Talk, a panel discussion which is hosted by the Freedom Come Rain Newspaper.

Dr. Thomas who founded Choose Life International (CLI) along with his wife Faith, works with churches and members of faith based communities to address mental health issues. CLI is known for its work in suicide prevention and grief counseling in various social settings in Jamaica.