SHORTLY after a Zululand Observer report on a spike in suicides in the city, another man shot himself in Arboretum on Wednesday night, adding to the rising number of tragic self-deaths in the past months, with four in only the past two weeks.
Illness, domestic violence and financial stress are believed to have been trigger factors in some of the cases, as well as the use of drugs and alcohol.
Suicides are not officially reported on by SAPS or in the Zululand Observer to spare families further grief and allow them privacy to come to terms with their loss.
Loved ones are often left with deep guilt that they did not see the signs or did not do enough to avert the tragedy.
Some, however, say they left no stone unturned to help, but it was not enough.
A local woman whose husband took his own life by taking an overdose of prescription medicine, said he regularly threatened to end everything.
All counselling efforts, medication and family intervention came to naught because he lost the will to live.
Untreated depression surfaces more prominently during the festive season and with the release of matric results.
According to the NGO, Suicide.Org, emotional hurts such as the death of a loved one, divorce, separation, losing custody of children, job loss and serious illness can drive a person over the edge.
Other emotional turmoil includes terminal illness, chronic pain, domestic violence, rape, assault, bullying and unresolved abuse from the past.
The person feels trapped, helpless or humiliated.
People who contemplate suicide will often give their loved ones clues about their state of mind, such as talking or joking about dying, writing morbid stories or poems, listening to sad music or engaging in reckless behaviour.
SAPS Communication Officer, Captain Debbie Ferreira, said family members or colleagues who notice such warning signs should act immediately to seek professional help or confide in a relative or friend they trust.
LifeLine Zululand can be contacted on 035 7897788.
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