After Anam Tanoli, Pakistan needs to talk about suicide

“Suicide” - a word with multiple negative connotations, and little awareness or understanding in Pakistan. It is associated with dread, stigma, shame, repulsiveness, pain, crime – it is considered culturally wrong, socially inappropriate, and religiously forbidden and yet, suicide still occurs in every society, every culture, every faith, regardless of age or gender.

Just last week, Anam Tanoli, an actress and model, despite all these connotations, decided to end her life. At her home in an upscale area of Lahore, she tied a rope around her neck and hung herself. By the time police found her she was already dead.

According to the World Health Organization, close to one million people commit suicide every year, i.e. a suicide occurs every 40 seconds, and for every successful suicide, there are about 20 more suicide attempts. It is the second most common cause of death in individuals between 15 and 29 years of age, and reportedly 75 per cent of suicides occur in low and middle-income countries, like Pakistan, where approximately half of the population is under the age of 25 years. In the midst of many cases not being reported as suicide, and a lack of sufficient research on this topic in Pakistan, Tanoli’s death and incidences surrounding it highlight the importance of the missing dialogue on suicide.

Suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviours can be a result of a combination of reasons including socio-economic factors, and it is also strongly linked to psychiatric illnesses such as depression.

Psychiatric depression is an extremely debilitating, long-lasting, and a serious illness. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, work in the area of mental health has been slow and below standard practice. Here, in the absence of a Psychological or Counseling licensing body, therapists who have completed a year-long diploma are found in abundance treating psychological problems that they may be unqualified to address. Since these therapists lack proper expertise and knowledge that can only be acquired through years of study, they are unable to adequately identify suicidal behaviours and to take certain steps in their role as therapists to prevent it. Furthermore, they have not been provided with proper training on crisis intervention counselling, which could prevent suicidal behaviour by helping the individual avert intense emotions.

Tanoli was allegedly suffering from depression and was a victim of cyberbullying. While the exact reasons remain unknown, in recent times cyberbullying has been identified as a contributing cause of depression, lower self-esteem and confidence, and can affect a person’s self-concept or body-image. While some may not be affected by cyberbullying or online trolling, others can suffer greatly especially when their profession is such that online presence also becomes bread and butter. Cyberbullying can even be more damaging than traditional bullying because the bully does not have to ever confront the victim, may not realize when to stop and is completely detached from the trauma caused to the victim. This is yet another area where mental health dialogue and support is lacking for the victim and therapists in Pakistan are mostly untrained to deal with such situations.

Suicide occurs, that is a fact; but, with proper professional and personal support, suicide is also preventable. From a therapist’s perspective, a great burden of thought goes into helping a person suffering from severe depression, displaying suicidal thoughts or behaviours, and addressing a state of mental crisis and intense emotions. While it is religiously prohibited, the likelihood of the person still attempting suicide increases if the crisis is not managed with care and support.

Newly appointed President Arif Alvi mentioned the need for “hotlines”. The function of a hotline crisis counselling service is to prevent immediate danger through properly trained counsellors. This service will be a big step towards addressing mental health needs. However, unqualified people at the hotline can do more harm than good.

We need to talk about suicide on different platforms because it occurs. We need to make individuals aware of the help and options available because it happens. We need to change the way we address it – “committing suicide” – a crime is something that is committed, here we are talking about a life. Even though attempted suicide is a punishable crime in Pakistan, by changing the rhetoric we will not only open doors to those seeking help without inducing a sense of shame or guilt, but also make suicide and attempted suicide preventable.

If you or someone you know is suffering from depression or thinking about suicide– please seek professional support and talk to a friend or a family member immediately about what you’re going through.

Humayoun is a practising psychologist and a mental health advocate.

Note: The views expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Geo News or the Jang Group.