Accra: Mental health experts and advocates have called for urgent national attention on the mental well-being of young people, warning that neglecting their struggles can have devastating consequences later in life.
According to Ghana News Agency, Professor Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie, President of the Association for Suicide Prevention Ghana (GASP), emphasized that adolescents and young adults are the most vulnerable group globally when it comes to deaths by suicide. This vulnerability is driven by a complex mix of social, economic, and personal pressures.
Prof Quarshie made these remarks during a capacity-building workshop for media practitioners in Accra, organized by the GASP in collaboration with the WHO Ghana Office and the Department of Psychology of the University of Ghana. The workshop aimed to raise awareness on the WHO's guidelines in suicide reporting and educate participants on the application of localized guidelines within the same context.
Prof Quarshie noted that while bullying has existed for generations, today's youth face additional challenges such as cyberbullying and the unrealistic lifestyles portrayed on social media. He highlighted that many young people are losing their self-esteem and sense of self-worth in silence, particularly in the virtual world. Unaddressed mental health challenges in early years often persist into adulthood with serious consequences, he warned.
He further explained that most mental health conditions begin early in life, and failure to intervene promptly can lead to crises marked by hopelessness and loss of meaning, sometimes with fatal outcomes. He pointed out that worsening economic conditions, unemployment, poverty, and difficulties in accessing education are additional stressors confronting young people. Even families benefiting from free senior high school education struggle to provide basic support.
Prof Quarshie called for deliberate efforts to build resilience, strengthen life skills education, and introduce safeguards in the digital space to protect young people's mental health. Sharing a personal account, Dr. Pokua Osei Yeboah, who lost her son to suicide, stressed the importance of open and consistent communication between parents and their children. She emphasized that many parents fail to engage their children in honest conversations, often missing warning signs until it is too late.
Dr. Osei Yeboah urged parents to check in regularly with their children, ask about their lives, struggles, school, relationships, and whether they are experiencing bullying. She also suggested that parents should directly ask if their children have thoughts of self-harm. Despite admitting that cultural attitudes and traditional parenting styles sometimes discourage openness, she called for increased public education, mental health funding, reduced stigma, and the establishment of a national crisis hotline.
Dr. Johnny Andoh-Arthur, Secretary to the GASP, highlighted the lack of reliable national data on suicide and attempted self-harm, noting that most available figures are derived from media and police reports. He stressed that the absence of a dedicated system for recording these cases makes prevention challenging. He also mentioned that although Ghana decriminalized attempted suicide about two to three years ago, implementation remains incomplete without adequate investment in mental health services.
Dr. Andoh-Arthur expressed concern over the allocation of less than two percent of the national health budget to mental health, limiting the capacity of health facilities to provide timely and effective support. He concluded that while decriminalization marks significant progress, sustained national commitment, data-driven policies, and compassionate support systems are needed to protect young people's mental health and prevent avoidable loss of life.