A candlelight vigil hosted by Caritas Macau’s Hoi Fai Life Education Resource Centre under the theme of “Creating Hope Through Action” was held yesterday evening at Teatro Clementina Leitão Ho Brito on Avenida de Artur Tamagnini Barbosa, as part of the centre’s ongoing effort to raise public awareness of its suicide campaign, in recognition of yesterday’s World Suicide Prevention Day.
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was jointly established in 2003 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), and designated to be held annually on September 10.
“Creating Hope Through Action” is the triennial theme for the WSPD from 2021-2023, serving as a call to action and reminder that there is always an alternative to suicide.
According to a statement by Caritas Macau, the event was carried out in honour and memory of suicide victims and survivors, as well as those whose loved ones have been affected by suicide. The statement also said that in Macau a total of 80 cases of suicide were recorded last year, and 23 cases in the first quarter of this year.
The event yesterday consisted of several presentations on mental health issues by suicide prevention professionals, as well as sessions where past suicide attempters, mental illness ex-patients and carers of people with mental illness shared their personal stories with the audience. At 8 p.m. attendees lit flameless LED candles to commemorate those who lost their lives to suicide.
Everyone can act as a gatekeeper: Paul Pun
Secretary-General of Caritas Macau Paul Pun Chi Meng said in his speech that mental illness such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder was just one of the many contributing factors to suicidal behaviour. He highlighted that while the reasons for suicide vary, the common feeling is hopelessness, primarily triggered by stressful life events. “People experiencing these feelings often retreat into themselves. However, social isolation often exacerbates the feelings of loneliness, making the symptoms of depression even worse,” he added, underlining that effective suicide prevention requires the attention and active participation of everyone in the community as “gatekeepers”.
According to Pun, Caritas Macau will continue to expand its Life Hope Hotline suicide prevention service, providing training for local volunteers, teachers and parents. He added that more focus would be put on adolescent mental health this year, given the growing number of secondary school students seeking mental health services related to anxiety.
‘We have got to get rid of the shame of talking about suicide’
During the experience-sharing session, an invited guest who had thought about attempting suicide told her story and her path to recovery: “At that time, after having taken up the responsibility of being a single parent of a 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, I found my patience and tolerance for parenting and for myself being squeezed out by tiredness.” She emphasised the lack of support being the biggest contributing factor to her hopelessness. “I had bought a lot of charcoal and sleeping pills, plenty of them, imagining what it would be like if I went to sleep and never woke up again. But later the faces and voices of my children brought me back to reality. They needed me, and I could never leave them. So, I decided to reach out for help,” she added.
Another invited speaker, who has experience in providing care to mental illness patients, said that it was important to address the stigma of talking about suicide. She added: “a great majority of those with mental health issues do not want to talk about them. But if more people were aware of the problem, they would have a way of being able to get the help they need.”
The Caritas-Life Hope Hotline of Macau provides a 24-hour telephone emotional counselling service to residents in Macau in Chinese. Expat Life Hope Hotline provides counselling services in English and Portuguese. Both hotlines are closed on Wednesdays and public holidays.
Invited guests, including mental health professionals and those who experienced mental illness, share their experiences with the audience yesterday at Teatro Clementina Leitão Ho Brito. – Photo: Gabriel Tam
