And these suicides occurred days before World Suicide Prevention Day, which is normally on September 10th, but in Belize, it's being observed today. And perhaps that's why these cases have been highlighted, because there is more awareness around this time of year. But according to counselor, Christa Courtenay, it's not strange to see an increase in attempted and completed suicides during times of festivities, such as the September celebrations. She explained why.
Christa Courtenay, Councillor & Managing Dir., Monarch Counseling and Consulting
"During times of celebration, sometimes there are additional costs, additional expectations of energy and festivities, and that you'll be participating and happy and joyful. And someone who may be suffering silently sometimes can be additionally triggered by not really feeling the same type of energy, not being able to meet expectations, having friends and family members who may be disappointed that they're not quite feeling it that much, or it just highlights the fact that they are not in the best of moods and they don't know how to get out."
"So they can be trigger points and trigger times for people who may already be suffering when festivities are happening. So World Suicide Prevention Day is typically celebrated on September 10th, which happens to be a holiday here for us in Belize."
"So I know there's been several awareness events happening leading up to the 10th. Today, for instance, people were asked to wear yellow because that's the color that represents the awareness day activities."
"The theme is creating hope through action. So again, we need to do, we're motivated during this time to do something in the public to raise awareness for the fact that suicides are preventable. And so wearing yellow today again, why is everybody wearing yellow?"
"We start to ask questions, it raises awareness, suicide prevention day. Oh yeah, okay, didn't know that was a thing and we do it for other types of awareness days as well. You'll see people that choose to wear colors."
"But again, because we're talking about suicide prevention and some of the national and international activities that are happening, when you have a suicide take place during that time, of course your awareness is already peaked, and so the interest is there and there's a lot more focus and attention on suicides that happen around that time."
"So for sure, recent events would be a bit more impactful for people who are already becoming more aware."
