Counsellor concerned about suicides amongst males especially Loop Barbados

On Caribbean Wellness Day (September 10), the CEO of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development Shawn Clarke admits that he is “very concerned” about the number of suicides that have happened in Barbados for a small population of this size in recent months and the past few years.

If we refuse to go back to the drawing board, we are going to continue losing our males

Speaking to Loop News on the sidelines of the Wellness Day event organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Clarke, who is also a member on the National Task Force for Wellness, said:

“I’m very, very concerned about the suicides. I think we have to put mechanisms, and systems in place to try to encourage our males to come forward and to talk about things that are concerning to them. As families, we have to teach our males, our young males that it is okay to cry, it is okay to talk.”

He said that it cannot continue as business as usual, with people sweeping the incidents under the carpet until the next one occurs.

Clarke asserted better must be done now to prevent more disastrous outcomes.

“If we refuse to go back to the drawing board, we are going to continue losing our males. It is very concerning and it is something we need to take stock of.”

Therefore he said there must be a cultural shift away from making Bajan boys and men feel as though they have no release or respite, no safe spaces to show their emotions and safely expel negative thoughts.

Asked if and why he believes Bajan men and women cope with stress differently, especially with more males seeming to be the victims of suicide in more recent times, he agreed “yes” and explained that it has to do with the variations in the upbringing of the sexes.

“I think females are allowed to talk, to share with your girlfriends, your family members and so on, but for males, we’re supposed to be strong, supposed to keep everything on the inside, we’re supposed to be strong, we’re supposed to be manly. We are not supposed to do anything that persons would consider us less than a male. So I think because of that in the end we keep everything on the inside and it is almost like putting garbage in a garbage can…you continue to put garbage in that can…eventually that can is going to fill, it’s going to overflow…and that is what typically happens to males where we try to keep everything bottled up on the inside until we can no longer handle it.”

September is also Suicide Prevention Month in some countries around the globe.