Dear Editor,
There is a report of a suicide from the Upper Corentyne in your edition of 12 October, 2016. The newspaper probably saw it in the public interest to report this case. It seems the family did everything. They went to the medical establishment. The report is scant. It is clear that something went wrong as the patient was sent home.
President Granger, at a workshop in April 2016 had called for an independent and vigorous media which would ensure accountability. The media is urgently required to move beyond the reporting of individual cases of suicide to start asking questions. What is the help available? Who is the doctor who sent a patient in distress home? What is supposed to be the protocol when individuals are in distress and continue to feel suicidal? Was an assessment done to evaluate the risk of harm?
Who are the trained doctors in Guyana who can administer care to persons who are depressed and suicidal? Are all doctors supposed to treat persons with depression?
Who are the persons allowed to prescribe medications for mental illnesses? What should patients and families expect from the medical establishment – public or private when persons go for mental health treatment?
Stabroek News and other outlets in Guyana probably think it is in the public interest to keep reporting on individual cases of suicide. There is an urgent need for interrogation of what is happening beyond the individual cases.
Yours faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
