Special Report: Are Churches Letting The ‘Suicide Capital Of The World’ Down?
“I had declared my life a failure and never saw any point in living.”
Those are the words of Tlotliso, a 29-year-old female graduate of Help Lesotho’s Leaders-in-Training program of 2022.
Happy to be alive today, Tlotliso — who would only be identified by her first name and a victim of sexual violence in the tiny kingdom that is wholly enclaved by South Africa — added: “Now, I see that the world needs me to stop holding my silence.”
Help Lesotho delivers grassroots mental health support and training programs in rural communities in Southern Africa that are battling the impacts of HIV/AIDS, poverty, unemployment and gender-inequity.
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Thanks to the intervention of the non-profit, Tlotliso was snatched from the cusp of addiction to the grim statistics that see the small African country punch above its size to earn itself the dubious title of “suicide capital of the world.”
According to 2022 data from the World Health Organization, at 87.5 suicides per 100,000 people, Lesotho’s suicide rate is about 10 times the global average of just nine per 100,000. Traumatic experiences — such as rape and domestic violence as well as high unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse — are cited as some of the main factors that push people, mainly women and youths, into depression and mental health struggles that culminate in suicide.
Despite this grim reality, church leaders in this nation of 2.3 million are not just in denial about this social crisis — but are also in denial about being in denial, leaving the desperately depressed with no one to give them the much-needed message of hope.
A survey by AfroBarometer found that 95 percent of Lesotho profess to be Christians. The survey found that Protestants, including Anglicans, evangelical Christians, Methodists, members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Pentecostals, Christian Zionists, Baptists and members of the Church of Christ, represent 53.7 percent of the population. Catholics make up 41.4 percent of the population.
At the same time, research has shown that religion plays an important role in combating suicide. For a nation that is so deeply Christian, it would be expected that the church would be playing a leading role in seeking to end this crisis, but not in Lesotho. When Religion Unplugged contacted the Christian Council of Lesotho, an umbrella organization representing mainline Christian church denominations, to check what role the churches are doing to roll back the macabre statistics, the organization doesn’t acknowledge that suicides are a problem.
Masechaba Thorela, the CCL’s general secretary, rejected that there is a suicide problem in the kingdom.
“No high suicide rate in Lesotho. … Murder cases — yes! Not suicide,” she told Religion Unplugged. “I am not aware of the WHO statistics that you are referring to. I gave you the response based on my conversation with the police PRO that there is no high rate of suicide in Lesotho, hence I think you are being unfairly judgmental by saying the church is denying and therefore feeding the stigma. And what stigma is that?”
Archbishop of Maseru Gerard Tlali Lerotholi, could also not be drawn into explaining why the Catholic Church — the largest single Christian church denomination in the country — is doing about the crisis.
Talking about suicide is taboo in many African societies and that includes Lesotho. Experts said stigma is the first hurdle that ought to be cleared in dealing with the scourge of suicides.
“The depth of social, religious and cultural practices across Africa — and we see here in Lesotho — that stigmatize suicide make preventing deaths by suicide so much more difficult,” said Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, LifeLine International’s African representative as well as a leading psychiatrist and authority on suicide prevention and suicide decimalization in Africa.
“And this is the real human tragedy because these are needless deaths, these are lives that can be saved, simply by asking for help. But so many of the same social pressures that often cause suicidal distress also inhibit people from asking for help.”
High suicide rate among women
Not only does Lesotho lead in suicide statistics, the country is also a global oddity in that it has a significantly higher female suicide rate.
According to Help Lesotho, an advocacy group, Lesotho’s high rate of gender-based violence is considered a factor since 86 percent of women have experienced violence in their lives).
“There is a clear window on the overwhelming pain, stress, shame and burden carried by Basotho women,” the group said.
The Basotho are an ethnic group of people from Southern Africa who primarily live in Lesotho and South Africa. The Basotho are also known as the Sotho people.
The organization said women are also disproportionately burdened by unemployment, household responsibilities and caring for their families, contributing to steep financial disparities. Added to this is HIV, which is about four times higher among young women (ages 20-24) as well as the consequences of teenage pregnancy and early marriages, all which drive Basotho women towards ending their lives.
“In every Help Lesotho program, there are beneficiaries who have seriously contemplated suicide; many have tried,” the non-profit said. “Universally, it is estimated that for every person who dies by suicide, another 20 people made attempts. Every single one of our beneficiaries has had a personal experience with suicide, often within their family or close friend group. Despite suicide permeating so many aspects of Basotho society, almost no one talks about it.”
‘We have a serious problem’
However, not everyone is in denial about suicide in Lesotho.
“Lesotho has the serious problem of mental illness which therefore lead to suicide. Suicide rate is at 87.5 per 100,000 every year,” Britty Phumane Rethabile, Africa Project Against Suicide Lesotho country coordinator told Religion Unplugged.
Like Help Lesotho, this is one of the few organizations that have embarked on various initiatives to convince Basotho that ending their lives is not a solution to their problems.
She said APAS Lesotho has been carrying out some suicide prevention awareness campaigns in villages, churches, schools and workplaces.
“We normally target nearby destinations because of lack of resources as we are volunteering to these programs. I have no doubt that the places which are not accessible are suffering (more) because they are not receiving any of our awareness campaigns,” Rethabile added.
Rethabile said churches throuhgout Lesotho could help in fighting this scourge.
“I think buy-in from churches and other religious organizations can assist a lot in enhancing our efforts as an organization. One of the drawbacks we encounter is the limited resources that hinder us to fully carry out our suicide prevention programs throughout the country,” she said.
Zone of mental health scare
Dr. Tlali Phohlo, a lecturer in the department of theology and religious studies at the National University of Lesotho, said the widespread harsh socio-economic situation in the country has resulted in the high suicide rate.
“Many Basotho dwell in the zone of mental health scare, anxiety and depression,” he told said. “I believe that the high rate of suicide cases in the country are attributable to the situation. If you asked me to describe Basotho in the country they call their home, I believe most of them are very unhappy, frustrated, exasperated and dwell on the brink of hopelessness. This is the story told by the high rate of suicide cases in the country.”
He said while historically different mainline churches have contributed immensely to the health sector through hospitals and other services, there appears to be lack of capacity within these churches to deal with the growing problem of mental health.
“Outside those centers, many of their subscribers or members, including their leaders, priests, pastors and functionaries, are not well informed about mental health issues,” Phohlo said.
He also said there is a trend in many emerging Pentecostal and locally founded churches to exploit people instead of helping them in their spiritual growth.
“There is a tendency to take advantage of the poor and rampant poverty prevailing in the country,” he said. “The content of their preaching, in my opinion, gives false hopes amid the misery people. It is more geared to self-aggrandizement of the self-proclaimed pastors, evangelists, and prophets. They make the vulnerable people more dependent on them than help them reverse their mental states affected by the socio-economic problems.”
A 2022 U.S. report on international religious freedom said the LCC has also expressed concern about the involvement of some newer Pentecostal churches in criminal activities.
Churches and the ‘meaning of life’
Phohlo said religion and spirituality, if well understood, can be helpful to change the trend of mental illness that has gripped the nation.
“In light of this, I wish religious leaders in this country could be workshopped in matters of mental health and the positive role that can be played by religion and spirituality,” he said. “The content of the sermons should put emphasis on the sense of purpose and meaning of life in the context of human suffering most Basotho are faced with on a daily basis because of abject poverty in the country. Sense of purpose and meaning of a person’s life is a drive and will to live despite all the odds. It is spiritual in nature.
He added: “Depression and anxiety eat away these in a person. They eat away a person’s hope in the future. This is the reason why people kill themselves. In this sense spirituality, healthy spirituality for that matter, can be a support to people faced with difficulties we are facing in our country.”
Phohlo said there is also need for a greater awareness campaign among churches.
“I wish they could have programs that specifically involve them in changing the undesirable trend in our country,” he said. “But this is dependent of the level of their awareness of the mental health quandary prevailing in Lesotho.”
Cyril Zenda is a Christian and an African journalist and writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe.