We must save the youth from depression, suicide

At least a million people are estimated to die annually from suicide worldwide. Many more people, especially the young and the middle-aged, attempt suicide. This is according to a report by the World Health Organisation.

Kenya is among the countries that are witnessing an increasing number of people who, for one reason or another, end their lives or contemplate doing so. Browsing through social media, you hardly fail to find young people in distress, either calling out for help or threatening to commit suicide after being pushed to the wall by different pressures of life. The mainstream print and electronic media is also flooded with harrowing reports of such distressing situations.

What has the world come to? What are the reasons that push the youth, who ought to be optimistic and full of life, into so tight a corner that they reach a point where they decide committing suicide is the only option?

Researchers have come up with a number of findings on what pushes the youth, and indeed any segment of the population, down the path of suicide. These include social and economic pressures. Lack of jobs, financial constraints and academic challenges are some of the factors that have been particularly cited as weighing heavily on the shoulders of young people.

Most suicide cases are also a consequence of mental health disorders arising from depression.

In Kenya, unemployment is at an all-time high, and apparently with no hope in sight, chances of the youth getting depressed are high.

The mobile phone has spawned its own set of challenges, with young people bearing the brunt of this innovation. The youth spend most of their time on their devices, listening to music, watching videos, chatting with friends or simply keeping abreast of trending events. With the chunk of their time thus occupied, little time is left for life-enriching activities such as playing, exercising and interacting with friends, parents as well as mentors.

Although social media has a number of positive benefits for the youth, it also exposes young people to all manner of vulnerabilities such as cyber bullying and a never-ending struggle to belong. These platforms have heightened peer pressure and those who are unable to keep pace with their ultra-speed are left nursing badly bruised egos that drive them into anxiety and feelings of worthlessness.

How can the society curb this depressing state of affairs? Perhaps the starting point is to understand the symptoms of a person suffering from early suicidal tendencies. Lack or loss of sleep, substance abuse, instances of self-harm and low levels of energy are among key warning signals. Parents and guardians have to watch out for these signs and swing into action to arrest the imminent slide of their children into a dangerous zone. If help is not immediately forthcoming, the victim may soon experience depression, before slipping into an unstable mental condition, a state that poses other health problems.

It is time to put down that phone and have face-to-face interactions among ourselves. It is simply becoming as addictive and destructive as excessive smoking, drinking or betting. If not urgently addressed, we run the risk of literally bringing up a generation of zombies who are unable to solve their problems, even the simplest ones.

The youth need lessons in determination, stamina and resilience. They need to be brought up in an environment that equips them with the requisite capacity to withstand hurdles they are bound to come across in their sojourn in the academic world and in their careers.

As leaders we owe the youth a good life. We are duty-bound to expand education opportunities and devise ingenious strategies to grow the economy so that it can generate sufficient and well-paying jobs for the thousands of youths who graduate every year from our colleges and universities. It is an indictment of leaders when the majority of them languish in joblessness or poorly paying jobs.

The writer is a Member of Parliament representing the youth in the 12th Parliament;