Fiji’s startling suicide stats

A Fijian attempts suicide every 36 hours, says Lifeline Fiji team leader Jeremaia Merekula. He said this while speaking at a vigil to mark World Suicide Prevention Day at Pier St in Suva yesterday.

The vigil followed a “Sleep Rough” campaign – where members of the public were invited to experience sleeping on the streets of Suva for a night to get a feel of what street dwellers on our city and town streets go through.

The campaign was supported and organised by Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, Psychiatric Survivors Association, Aruka Fiji, and Ahava Project Fiji.

Mr Merekula said for every completed suicide, there were 14 attempts.

He said Fiji has some of the highest rates of suicide in the Pacific.

“The youngest victim of suicide is seven-years-old, every 36 hours a Fijian attempts to commit suicide, we have an average of 105 completed cases of suicide every year,” he said.

“From January to June, we had 58 completed cases of suicide.

“We have had a total of 108 cases of suicide this year already, both attempted and completed, that are reported.”

Mr Merekula said a lot of the trends surrounding suicide in Fiji go back to our culture, and who we are as individuals.

“Most of the time we don’t share about our emotions, we tend to bottle them up and things happen and suddenly we hear ‘o koya sa kauta nona bula (they have taken their life)’, ‘o koya sa mate (they died)’, ‘o mate vacava (how did they die)?’

Mr Merekula said we often know that our family and friends were going through things and we don’t make the effort or just take the time to ask them how they were doing.

“A lot of us are scared to ask that question because if the conversation starts off we don’t know how it will play out.”

Lifeline Fiji is a volunteer-based NGO that provides a 24/7 toll-free crisis helpline, community-based crisis support (psychological first aid), promoting emotional wellbeing to the public, and building resilience for Fijian Communities.

They deliver these services through voice calls, text messaging, online, face to face counselling and outreach.

If you feel you are in a situation where you need support or even just someone to talk to, you can reach Lifeline Fiji toll free on 1543.