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ANDREW GIOANNETTI
TEACHERS, now more than ever, are the first in line to detect mental-health issues such as depression among teenage students, who now fall under two groups most vulnerable to suicidal tendencies.
Dr Varma Deyalsingh, a private psychiatrist, said teachers can play a more important role than doctors by identifying problem signs early on.
Deyalsingh spoke with Newsday on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Month.
He said in spite of vacancies at the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Student Support Services Division, counsellors and psychologists in the system, as well as a number of state-subsidised and voluntary non-governmental organisations (NGOs), are willing and able to provide the children with support.
The much larger problem, he says, is the stigma attached to depression and other mental-health challenges that prevent children, young adults, and even their parents, from using these support services.
Citing trends identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Deyalsingh said, “We see the older peak, people older than 65, the isolated male, they’re not employed; the isolated female (whose) children moved out of the home (empty nest syndrome), the husband died – but then we notice that peak where you have 15-30-year-olds presenting with a great deal of depression.”
WHO and PAHO, he said, had been trying “to nudge the health administrators worldwide to prepare for what they referred to as a tsunami of depression that we are seeing globally (compounded by the covid19 pandemic).
“What got us worried is when they said that the second highest cause of death in 15-29-year-olds would be suicide globally.”In successive generations, he said, younger and younger people were seeking help for depression.
[caption id="attachment_974939" align="alignnone" width="960"] Among the many factors contributing to depression in adolescents are: cyber-bullying, poverty; parents expecting too much from their children in terms of academics; too-strict parenting and toxic households (emotional abuse).-[/caption]
During a joint select committee hearing on Social Services and Public Administration chaired by Paul Richards in March, committee member Sen Avinash Singh revealed that at least nine secondary schoolchildren diagnosed with clinical depression have died by suicide since 2019.
Singh stressed the need to fill the vast number of vacancies – approximately 225 – in the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Student Support Services Division.
The number of children seeking support rose sharply during the covid19 pandemic with the closure of schools and the implementation of other stringent public health measures keeping young people indoors for prolonged periods.
Although suicide is still a local and global problem, deaths by suicide in TT are in decline overall, in contrast to Guyana, which faces the world’s second highest suicide rate, with 40.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
So why is this region particularly vulnerable?
“(It’s primarily) the East Indian population,” Deyalsingh explained. “It’s not just there. If you look at India and where migrants have settled, it’s been looked at and believed to be a matter of trans-generational culture. For instance, one generation (has certain ideals) and the younger generation may move to another direction, and there is a conflict.
He said this country was implementing a national policy.
“This was earmarked because Trinidad was once high. The figures just now seem to be tapering off.
“Now Guyana – which is strange – has implemented a national suicide prevention strategy since 2014, but it doesn’t seem to have helped them much, because they still have the second highest (rate) in the world.”
The challenge, Deyalsingh said, is to implement and encourage a system for students not only to recognise they have a problem but also to “reach out.”
[caption id="attachment_974941" align="alignnone" width="577"] Dr Varma Deyalsingh: "We notice that peak where you have 15-30-year-olds presenting with a great deal of depression." -[/caption]
“In traditional school, we would have always had student support services.”
Additionally, he said, “Let’s say a child is acting out in school. We have always tried to implement (a system utilising) peer counsellors” – a system, he explained, in which some students would be trained to identify existing problems among their classmates.
He said since teenagers are often unaware of or ashamed to seek out the available resources and to open up to teachers, it was intended as an alternative first step.
“It is something we hoped would have caught on nationally. We have noticed that some students do not want to reach out to the traditional school support systems.
“This is why there is also the Child Line,” an NGO-implemented hotline, providing counselling services over the phone.
“The first thing is, we need to get young people used to expressing their emotions.”
As part of several parent-teachers associations, Deyalsingh has tried to promote the use of charts showing different emotions at kindergartens and primary schools.
“Just as they learn the ABC, from day one, they can learn all the emotions to tell their teachers how they feel.”
Deyalsingh identified some of the many factors contributing to depression in adolescents as poverty; parents expecting too much from their children in terms of academics; too-strict parenting’ toxic households (emotional abuse); and cyber-bullying.
The most significant risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt.
Deyalsingh avoided blaming phones and social media with a broad brush, saying for all the harmful aspects, there are several constructive and positive ways to use them.
“It’s a double-edged sword, because you find that, with a device, you can reach out for help easier. That’s one thing. But we have to direct them (to that help).”
Social media, he said, can be used in this situation by having teens find new friends and interact with their current friends.
“Or with a device, you can find yourself more socially isolated: you can’t fit in, you can’t live in the real world. And this is why they found that the younger generation may be also heavily depressed.”
He said he and his peers in psychiatry are not “pill pushers,” especially when more appropriate remedies for depression can and should be explored.
[caption id="attachment_974940" align="alignnone" width="877"] Young people can seek help online and and otherwise ans should open up to parents about their emotiions. -[/caption]
“When a client comes to us, we often recommend exercise that will release endorphins (and other chemicals). There is a study where they had given some people Zoloft (an antidpressant drug) and they had others exercise, and the exercise was just as effective.”
He also recommended a diet high in omega-three fatty acids and vitamin C.
Deyalsingh said he has long encouraged schools to allow longer playtime and extra-curricular activities for students.
“What I want to tell young people is that there are avenues. You can seek help online. You can seek help otherwise.
“If they figure they can’t seek help and talk, then the Ministry (of Education) has to do more testing,”– testing, he said, which isn’t necessarily resource-intensive.
“Also, we need to normalise in this culture for children of TT to say, ‘Hey, Daddy, Mummy, I’m feeling sad today, I’m feeling angry today,’ to normalise the discussion on their emotions.”
Warning signs for teachers and parents to look out for:
Changes in appetite;
Withdrawing from activities that used to matter to the child
Substance abuse
Declining school performance
Increased absence
Talking about death or suicide
Other drastic changes in the child’s behaviour.
If you, a family member or anyone you know has thought or expressed thoughts about suicide or are experiencing depression, contact these agencies for professional help:
Child Line – 800-4321
Lifeline – 645-2800
Families in Action – 628-2333
National Family Services Division – 624-8218/627-1163
Student Support Services Division –724-1010
 
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