Global Health, Department of Communications, Free Spirits Mental Health Awareness Group, Blantyre, Malawi.
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Department of Logistics, Free Spirits Mental Health Awareness Group, Blantyre, Malawi.
Pan Afr Med J. 2021 Jan 20;38:69. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2021.38.69.27843. eCollection 2021.
Suicide continues to be a global health concern, affecting all continents. Although some studies have associated it with mental disorders such as severe depression, research also shows that a significant number of cases occur due to emerging life stresses. It is one of the leading causes of death among young people and is steady on the rise in Malawi. Malawi's suicide cases disproportionately affect young males from rural areas. These cases are also higher than those of neighbouring countries. During the lockdown period to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic between April and September 2020, Malawi saw a rise in suicide cases, most of which were due to the resulting financial hardship. There is need to tackle the suicide epidemic holistically, on all tiers of intervention. People need to be equipped with socially acceptable coping mechanisms which are easily adaptable to a low resource setting. There is a need for initiative to be taken in training individuals who can manage mental ill health without overwhelming the health system. The entire health system and health policies should acknowledge the importance of mental ill-health and its consequences. Malawi needs to prioritise mental health issues, realising that indeed, there is no health, without mental health.
自杀仍然是一个全球性的健康问题，影响到各大洲。尽管一些研究将其与严重抑郁症等精神障碍联系起来，但研究也表明，大量自杀案例是由于新出现的生活压力引起的。它是年轻人死亡的主要原因之一，在马拉维呈稳步上升趋势。马拉维的自杀案例不成比例地影响来自农村地区的年轻男性。这些案例也高于邻国。在 2020 年 4 月至 9 月为减轻 COVID-19 大流行影响而实施封锁期间，马拉维的自杀案例有所增加，其中大部分是由于由此导致的经济困难。需要在各个干预层面全面应对自杀流行，人们需要掌握社会可接受的应对机制，这些机制应易于适应资源匮乏的环境。需要采取主动措施，培训能够管理精神健康问题而又不会使卫生系统不堪重负的人员。整个卫生系统和卫生政策都应认识到精神健康不良及其后果的重要性。马拉维需要优先考虑精神健康问题，认识到如果没有精神健康，就没有健康。
