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SUICIDE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

Inside Guyana – the former British colony which has TWICE as many suicides as any other country and once saw the biggest mass suicide in history – the Jonestown massacre

Attempting suicide is still illegal in the South American nation where mental health remains stigmatised

8th March 2017, Updated: 9th March 2017,
 

FORMER British colony Guyana has the world’s highest rate of suicide where attempting to kill yourself is still illegal and mental health problems remain stigmatised.

And in a bizarre coincidence, the largest mass suicide in history, the infamous Jonestown Massacre – where 918 people took their own lives – took place in the South American nation in 1978.

Guyana has the world’s highest rate of suicide. The capital Georgetown pictured.
Guyana has the world’s highest rate of suicide. The capital Georgetown pictured.

 

The Jonestown Massacre in 1978 saw 918 people commit suicide in one day on north west Guyana
The Jonestown Massacre in 1978 saw 918 people commit suicide in one day on north west Guyana

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Today, 44.2 in every 100,000 Guyanese commit suicide every year – compared to the global average of 16, according to the World Health Organisation.

And the epidemic affects young and old with children as young as 10 killing themselves.

The most common method – like Jonestown – is poison, generally involving pesticides or rat poison.

But one charity is helping to stop the scourge by counselling mental health sufferers and lobbying the government to change to laws affecting suicide.

The Guyana Foundation runs the Sunrise Centre which provides psychiatric support and skills training for suicidal people who are referred to as ‘idiots’ by the government’s outdated legislation.

Speaking with The Sun Online, the charity’s managing director Susan Issacs reveals the varying problems behind the “horrific” epidemic.

She said: “The reasons include high levels of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse are all contributing factors.

“Also in Guyana it is a crime to commit suicide. We are trying to get that law changed – we are lobbying the government but it’s going very slowly.

The Sunrise Centre also treats children in a bid to curb the country’s shocking suicide rate
The Guyana Foundation
The Sunrise Centre also treats children in a bid to curb the country’s shocking suicide rate
FM

“In the whole of the country there are only five psychiatrists.”

Sufferers are referred to the centre, which opened last year, when they try and fail to commit suicide.

And while most people receiving treatment are aged between 25 to 45, Susan reveals the charity has treated children as well.

She said: “We have all kind of sufferers – male, female, young and old.

“We have treated a 12-year-old boy but the youngest we were aware of was a 10-year-old boy who hanged himself.

Kids receive a juice drink during a recent Guyana Foundation community event
The Guyana Foundation
Kids receive a juice drink during a recent Guyana Foundation community event
Young men at the Sunrise Centre in Guyana receive mental health counselling and skills training
The Guyana Foundation
Young men at the Sunrise Centre in Guyana receive mental health counselling and skills training
FM

“That happened last year in one of the remote villages in Essequibo – in the north east of the country.”

Poisoning by agricultural pesticides accounts for 65% of the country’s suicides, reports the BBC.

And the Guyana Foundation is also trying to pressure the government into making these poisons, which are legal to buy, less available to the public.

Susan said: “It’s a hell of way to die. It is usually not a quick death although that depends on the strength of the poison.”

The mass suicide in 1978 – known as the Jonestown Massacre – involved an American cult, led by tyrannical leader Jim Jones, which had moved to Guyana from the US.

The Jonestown Massacre is the biggest mass suicide in history
The Jonestown Massacre is the biggest mass suicide in history

The group, which centred around Jones’ warped interpretation of socialism, committed the biggest suicide in history when 918 people killed themselves on November 18, 1978.

Under Jones’s instruction, the cult members drank cyanide poison after members of the group had shot and killed US Congressman Leo Ryan who had visited the secretive commune with reporters.

But Susan says despite the massacre shocking the western world, most Guyanese are unaware of the mass killing.

She said: “Very few people in Guyana knew about it – it was in the north west district Port Kaituma.

“People in Guyana were not even aware that the cult was in their country – and nearly everyone who died was American.

“We were actually talking about how much of a strange coincidence it was earlier this year.”

FM

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