No solution to my perennial financial difficulty is said to have been the caption of the suicide note left behind by the 58-year old English Language tutor of Adisadel College Mr Appia Menka when he was found hanging on a rope in his bungalow last Sunday. When I heard the news, I was so stunned I couldnt move or talk immediately. It took my emotion all of sixty seconds to go through the basic pattern of drama : Sheer incredulity (CONFLICT)--swelling anger(RISING ACTION)-- cold rage(CLIMAX)-- reducing anger( FALLING ACTION)-- resigned sigh( DÉNOUEMENT). That one minute reminded me that one shouldnt be too quick to castigate people who take their own lives. That is not to say suicide is justifiable. But then many of us tend to forget that it is a medical condition and that our levels of resistance vary. While some of us can bear mountains of problems with the patience of Job, others would snap under the weight of foolscap sheet! While some of us take every misfortune in our stride and move on, others brood over infinitesimal issues. While some of us are able to store our emotions in unbreakable emotional vaults, others wear their emotions on their sleeves. That is why some people would feel scandalised by the late Appia Menkas reason for committing suicide. But then people have taken their own lives over ,as it were, flimsier excuses. A particularly curious one is the KNUST guy who reportedly took a leap of faith from the seventh (or is it eighth?) floor of one of the halls just because his girlfriend had jilted him. I am no expert on SUICIDE, but I believe that beyond the sanctimonious condemnation of people who commit suicide, most of us are complete ignoramuses on that phenomenon. We do not appreciate the reasons people commit suicide. We do not know the signs of a suicidal person. We are not even well equipped as a country to deal with the issue of mental health. So while we contemplate what might have pushed teacher Appia Menka into deciding on suicide as the best way out of his perennial financial difficulty, lets begin to give mental health the needed attention.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 01:09:00 +0000
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