Crisis Centre concerned about suicide upsurge
Amid a suicide upsurge on the Island, the the Saint Lucia Crisis Centre has appealed to people who are facing problems in their lives to talk to somebody.
The Managing Director of the Centre, Norma La Borde, said:
“I want to make a plea to those young people, whether you are young, in between, men, women, children – if you are experiencing any kind of problem, talk to somebody.”
La Borde noted that her appeal was going out to men especially.
She explained that although men do visit the Crisis Centre, the majority of the clients are women.
She said that if there are men with problems, they need not look at their problem with a “macho attitude” but see themselves as a human being who is hurting and needs help.
“If you see something, if you hear someone talking about taking their life, come to us; go to a friend; go to a Pastor; go to your church; but you need to do something because we are losing out young people,” the Crisis Centre Managing Director asserted.
La Borde spoke in the aftermath of the discovery yesterday of the body of a twenty-four year old Digicel employee, Bianca Felix, hanging from the ceiling of a house at Trouya.
Police have ruled out foul play in the death, although residents of the neighbourhood and sources close to the family have indicated that they believe otherwise.
“When we heard about it, as I understand it, this young lady of 24 years allegedly committed suicide,it distressed me because my first thought was – twenty four years old, there is so much life ahead of you, and we always talk about the youth being the future of the country and we a twenty four year old whose life is snuffed out,” La Borde said.
She told said she wondered whether there was anyone around who noticed any signs of depression or other indicators.
Asked about the problems young people face today, La Borde’s response was that there are so many of them.
“We see a lot of young persons here and one of the things they talk about all the time is the lack of employment,” she disclosed.
La Borde also explained that at times young people find themselves in relationships that are all about economics.
“They are not working and they are not able to sustain themselves or feed themselves, or if they have children they are not able to do it, so they remain in abusive relationships just because they need someone to help them out financially,” the Crisis Centre Managing Director said.
In addition, she observed that some young people want things that are unattainable at the time but do not have the means to obtain them.
She also said there are some young people who have given up because they have been seeking employment for such a long time.
“So one of the things we have to do is create employment for young persons; we really have – all of us, as a community, as a society, we really have to try try and see and really create employment for those young persons,” La Borde asserted.
According to her, the Crisis Centre is also aware of situations of relationships gone sour and people get depressed, not knowing where to turn.
