By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — In observance of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, two leading Guyanese mental health professionals are calling on communities, faith-based institutions, and schools to build protective, supportive spaces that foster human connection and build emotional resilience.
Speaking in exclusive interviews with HGP Nightly News, clinical and developmental psychologist Dr. Telford Layne and Joses Solomon, Lead Child Psychologist at Blossom Inc., emphasized that tackling suicide requires collective community intervention rather than treating mental health in isolation, urging the public to dismantle the cultural stigmas that prevent vulnerable individuals—particularly men and youth—from seeking help.
Emotional Isolation, Masculine Stigmas, and Disproportionate Vulnerability
Dr. Layne explained that suicidal ideation frequently arises when individuals experience profound feelings of hopelessness and helplessness triggered by compounding crises, such as economic distress, relational breakdowns, and unaddressed trauma:
- Emotionally Unavailable Support Systems: Communities must actively look out for isolated youth, particularly those coping with absent or emotionally unavailable parents and unresolved grief.
- Cultural Barriers Facing Men: Cultural conditioning from early childhood socializes men and boys to suppress emotional distress and avoid seeking counseling, driving many into harmful social withdrawal.
- Vulnerable Demographics: Dr. Layne noted that men in Guyana are disproportionately impacted—dying by suicide at rates up to 30 times higher than women—while adolescents are nearly three times more likely to attempt suicide than mature adults. Marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ youths enduring family rejection, ostracization, and shame, remain acutely at risk.
“It is absolutely important for churches, for schools, and organizations to be friendly to these individuals and to create a safe environment that fosters and builds connection, no matter your age or gender, so that you can be more resilient in facing challenges not alone, but as a community,” Dr. Layne stated. “We need to look out for those who are isolating themselves, those who haven’t had connections, whose parents are not active in their lives, whose parents are emotionally unavailable.”
Blossom Inc.: Moving Beyond Mental Health Taboos to Root Causes
Joses Solomon, Lead Child Psychologist at Blossom Inc., underscored that despite suicide remaining one of the leading causes of preventable death nationally, public discourse continues to treat the topic as an unspeakable taboo:
- Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Context: Solomon stressed that suicidal ideation is rarely an isolated clinical condition; rather, psychiatric symptoms often reflect broader socioeconomic pressures, environmental instability, and psychosocial strain.
- Creating Safe Havens for Men: Echoing Dr. Layne, Solomon stressed the urgency of establishing dedicated environments where men can express emotional struggles without fear of ridicule or social diminished status.
- Listening to Warning Signals: Dispelling the myth that suicide occurs without warning, Solomon pointed out that most individuals in crisis communicate their pain repeatedly in various forms before engaging in self-harm.
“It’s more important that, especially on Suicide Prevention Day, we highlight the need for us as a community to come together and increase our understanding of suicide,” Solomon emphasized. “Ensuring that men have a safe space to be able to feel comfortable enough to open up and express when they are having difficult times… Most persons, they would have expressed to people many times or in many different ways how they are feeling, what they are going through. When they reach that point, we need to listen more often when those things arise.”
Solomon concluded that suicide prevention is an urgent civic responsibility requiring compassionate families, vigilant educational institutions, empathetic workplaces, and responsive community leadership working collaboratively to provide proactive care before crisis points are reached.
Support Resources:
- If you or someone you know is struggling with distress or thoughts of self-harm, confidential help is available. Contact the Guyana Police Force/Ministry of Health Mental Health Hotline at 223-0001, 223-0009, 600-7896, or 623-4444, or reach out to Blossom Inc. and local healthcare providers.
