The Head of Therapy and Wellness Department at the 37 Military Hospital, Dr Erica D. Dickson, has described the suicide deaths among police officers in the country as an issue of concern.

Quoting a study conducted between 2015 and 2021, she said 69 police officers lost their lives through suicide during that period.

In another study that was recently undertaken which sampled 268 police officers , she said 28 per cent of them had a lifetime suicide ideation; three per cent were planning to have suicide at the time; those threatening suicide were 21.6 per cent, while those who had a 12-month suicide ideation were 26.9 per cent.

World Suicide Prevention Day

Dr Dickson, who made this known at the 2024 World Suicide Prevention Day Forum in Accra last Tuesday, however, pointed out that the statistics did not mean the police service was the only security service in the country that might have personnel who committed suicide, adding that the other security services might be experiencing a similar trend but because some of them were tight-knit, it might be difficult to find statistics to back it up.

Despite that, she said some media reportage on suicide had been mentioned among people in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

She pointed out that personnel of the security services, by the nature of their work, were often exposed to potentially traumatic situations and emergencies such as lost of lives, floods, fires and road accidents, and that added to society’s expectation of them to remain tough and resilient at all times, exposing them to psychological trauma and increasing the risk of mental health difficulties, including ending their lives by suicide.

“Just being in the service increases your rate of being suicidal. People in the service may develop all kinds of mental disorders ranging from acute stress disorders to anxieties to some serious adjustment problems and maladaptations to post traumatic stress disorder. They may actually have triggers of severe mental disorders,” she said.

She said as service personnel, they were well placed to engage many people but also at risk of poor mental disorders and suicide risk.

She called for a change in the Ghanaian paradigm of mental health and suicide, as well as putting in place proactive measures such as advocacy, support services, community engagement to reduce stigma, beside treating with compassion and dignity, as well as prioritising mental health to expedite a change in the narrative.

She said changing the narrative called for mental health and suicide literacy across ranks; break the cultural and religious biases around suicide and a policy development supporting mental health and suicide prevention for service persons.

An expert on suiciodology, Professor Joseph Osafo, said decriminalising suicide was not enough, adding that the country had to double its efforts to establish a national suicide health prevention policy.

He said the country could change the narrative on suicide from one of insult, abuse and stigma to one of openness and hope.

A psychologist from the Ghana Police Service, Dr John-Deigo Kosoe, mentioned risk factors peculiar to police personnel committing suicide to be public perception of police personnel, recruitment process, promotion and transfers, work demands, unmet expectations and easy accessibility to drugs.

He expressed concern about police recruitment screening focusing only on the physical aspect, adding that if mental health was included, they would be able to pick up cases early and deal with them.

The Deputy Chief of Staff, Medical, at the General Headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General R. K. Ewusie, called for encouragement on open discussions about mental health in all the security services and also the need to build and strengthen support systems, including counselling services and peer support networks to ensure that no one felt isolated or alone in their struggles.

“Let us invest in regular mental health training and education so that every one of our personnel is equipped to recognise the signs of distress and respond effectively,” he said.