A panel of psychologists, psychiatrists and activists gathered this weekend of February 25-26 at the Bushman Hotel in Abidjan, on the initiative of the NGO GT Foundation, for a suicide awareness conference. A rare event in Côte d’Ivoire, where mental health issues are still largely taboo.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
Despite its particularly dark theme, the conference was sold out. The panelists, mental health professionals or activists, recalled that Africa was the continent with the strongest suicide rate, and Côte d’Ivoire the third African country in the ranking. To explain these figures, psychotherapist Nour Bakayoko offers several explanations:
” Here, for example, we say: “If you are too angry, you must kill yourself.” We tend to trivialize everything in Côte d’Ivoire. And this is one of the factors favoring all mental illnesses. For someone who lived through the crisis of 2002, the crisis of 2011 and the various mutinies that took place, there are bound to be psychological consequences. So, we think that here, we need a lot of therapists, we need a lot of follow-up. »
For psychologist Yasmine Mouaine, specializing in neuropsychology, the awareness-raising efforts made by professionals in the sector and NGOs have begun to bear fruit:
” Attitudes are starting to change a bit. Social networks democratize things a little more, it encourages young people and Ivorian populations to consult. But there is still a lot of awareness-raising work that must continue to break stereotypes and allow people to feel less alone. »
But for the time being, mental health remains the poor relation of Ivorian public health policies: Côte d’Ivoire has only 35 conventional care establishments throughout its territory.
You have to believe that there is real psychological suffering, but which is not heard, which is not taken care of
Ivory Coast: the taboo on mental health
► Also to listen: Suicides in Côte d’Ivoire: young people, main victims