Failing mental health

On Monday, a 52-year-old Corentyne man succumbed to poisoning at the New Amsterdam Hospital in Berbice. He had drunk an unknown quantity of some deadly substance minutes after inexplicably unleashing a series of chops on his ex-wife and her current partner at his home the day before.

The ex-wife Nesha Permauloo related to this newspaper that the attack was unexpected as the visit by her and her partner to her former home had become somewhat of a routine. Additionally, the three of them had been sitting around drinking and talking, again as per normal, and there had been no sign that Narine Permauloo was angry or upset before he snapped. Ms Permauloo and her partner are expected to recover, but there could have easily been three fatalities as a result of this incident instead of one. Quite possibly, this was the thought driving Mr Permauloo when he committed the act.

And while the attack would have been surprising to Ms Permauloo, what has been learnt about her former husband after the fact indicates that something was terribly wrong. Perhaps the entire episode could have been avoided if there had been an intervention earlier. By simply asking questions, our reporter was able to learn that Mr Permauloo had attempted suicide just last week, by swallowing a number of pills. He was taken to the hospital, where he possibly had his stomach pumped and was later discharged. There was no indication from his family that he had been referred for counselling or any sort of psychiatric help. If, as it seems, this was not done then it is an indictment of the medical professionals who attended to him.

Additionally, the fact that referrals are not automatic when such cases are presented is an indictment of the Ministry of Public Health and by extension the government. It is no secret that the mental health system, like its major facility at Berbice, is in tatters. Despite Guyana’s label as ‘the suicide capital of the world,’ mental health is still not being as aggressively addressed as it should be.

Attempts at fixes have been made, including the Guyana Police Force’s 24-hour interagency suicide prevention helpline, which was launched in August 2015, and the Ministry of Public Health’s national suicide prevention strategy the following month. However, from what is still being seen, there has not been much of an impact. Or rather it is not known whether either intervention has helped.

The Guyana Police Force, which is fond of trotting out statistics on its performance, has not to date revealed to the public the status of the helpline: how many calls are received per month and how many referrals/interventions/