The country recorded 175 suicide cases in the first half of the year, representing a rise on the previous years’ cases, with the suicidal tendency blamed on depression, substance abuse and two other factors.

In 2024, for instance, the country lost 134 lives through suicide, a 40 per cent increase from the previous year’s data, while over 1,170 people attempted to take their own lives during the same period.

These statistics, according to the acting Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, Dr Eugene K. Dordoye, partly reflected improved reporting, following the decriminalisation of suicide in 2023, but also showed that much more work remained to be done.

Suicidal behaviour, he said, was mostly caused by depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia and substance abuse, particularly alcohol and an opioid such as tramadol, stressing that there was the need for collaboration with the ministries of Youth and Sports to combat drug misuse among the youth.

Dr Dordoye, who was speaking at the 2025 World Suicide Prevention Day commemoration in Accra yesterday, further disclosed that the youth remained the most vulnerable group, with the majority of suicide cases in the country recorded among young people.

“It is very challenging to continue losing our young people, the very group with the greatest potential to boost our GDP (gross domestic product), to a preventable cause of death,” he said.

National strategy

Dr Dordoye said for every suicide, three to five times more people attempted, while up to 10 others were directly affected by the tragic act, hence the need for a national strategy that placed emphasis on prevention, awareness creation, early treatment and sustainable funding for mental health.

He appealed to the government to consider introducing a special excise levy, famously known as sin tax, on products such as alcohol, cigarettes, fast foods, gaming and betting, with proceeds channelled into the Mental Health Fund to support efforts at reducing suicidal behaviour.

“We would be grateful if government could put some excise duty on these products, such that the tax will be used to fund mental health in the country. Improving mental health would definitely reduce suicidal behaviour and make us a more productive nation,” he said.

Education, not stigma

A physician and clinical psychologist at the 37 Military Hospital, Dr Erica Dickson, said community stigma and misconceptions around suicide and mental health continued to worsen the plight of vulnerable people.

She cited instances where communities physically assaulted suicide survivors, describing such reactions as products of ignorance that only deepened suffering.

“Mental health literacy needs to go right down to the roots.

Even if primary care services exist, when people don’t know that they can access that help, it will just be a white elephant,” she said.

Dr Dickson urged the Mental Health Authority to intensify collaboration with agencies such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to drive community-level awareness, break harmful cultural perceptions and improve acceptance of people in distress.

She further warned of the double-edged relationship between drug abuse and suicidal behaviour, explaining that while some distressed individuals self-medicated with substances such as cannabis and alcohol, others developed mental health conditions as a result of substance abuse.

“Alcohol is the commonest substance abused in Ghana.

For some, it heightens mood, but for others, it triggers deep sadness and despair, and such individuals are more likely to harm themselves,” she said.