By: Elinson Rodríguez/ contacto@intertextualcr.com
In the month of June, three cases of suicides of Nicaraguans abroad were registered, the last registry was that of the 25-year-old José Ángel Rizo Corrales, who was found lifeless on June 18 in the apartment he rented in Minnesota, United States , with depression being one of the factors influencing the making of this decision. The young man was originally from El Cuá, Jinotega in the north of Nicaragua and had only arrived in the northern country seven months.nnAccording to official data in Nicaragua, in 2022 at least 426 people took their lives in the country, which shows a slight increase compared to figures from previous years, where 365 suicides were recorded in 2021 and 330 in 2020.
The young Nicaraguan psychologist Ceshia Ubau conceptualizes depression as a disease, regardless of its cause. For her, the difference that may exist is in the type of grief that causes depression, explaining grief as a loss that may be of a loved one, a job and in the case of exiles, forced migration.
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In this reality, Ubau explains that mourning is present in the loss of a lifestyle, family, friends, physical space, community, and even goals and dreams that are frustrated, adding that «When exile and forced displacement is accompanied by political violence, anxiety, anxiety and stress intensify”.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that 3.8 percent of the population experiences depression, including 5 percent of adults (4 percent among men and 6 percent among women). ) and 5.7 percent of adults over 60 years of age and globally, approximately 280 million people suffer from depression.
Risk factors that lead to depression
Risk factors are those that contribute to a greater risk of suffering from depression while outside your country. The psychologist explains to Intertextual that depression can be caused by traumatic events that expose life to danger and/or death and that have not been discussed or treated at a therapeutic level.
In the specific case of exiled people, suddenly losing everything that is known and done in the country of origin, loss of identity, to face something unknown and most likely where there is no stability/ economic security or to continue your goals or practice your profession is part of the duel.
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Ubau adds that not having a support network, economic distress, excessive consumption of alcohol and narcotic substances should also be taken into account as a risk factor.nnFor her part, the Costa Rican psychologist, part of the Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective team, Ruth Quirós, regrettably mentioned that the moment people decide to go to a therapy process is when the limit has been reached with respect to a problem, being ignorance or taboo around psychological therapies a cause for which people do not seek therapy at the first warning signs.
Warning signs
Ubau explains that among the warning signs we can find excessive consumption of alcohol and other substances, this is because addictions are somehow used to «numb» the reality that people go through.nnIn this list of warning signs we can also find excessive guilt, feelings of uselessness, lack of appetite, lack of hygiene, sleep disturbance and in some cases the expression of suicidal ideas.
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Quirós explains that the way in which the body also presents these signs, with the body being the first scenario where these points that signal a problem to us begin to manifest, such as «pain for no reason, body fatigue, allergies and gastric discomfort, This is accompanied by pain and feelings of guilt, having direct effects on the person’s behavior».
Dentro de las recomendaciones, Ruth Quirós añade el poder dimensionar la importancia de salud mental, reconociendo lo fundamental que es para las personas que enfrentan situaciones de adversidad con respecto a sus sentimientos, pensamientos y procesos de duelo migratorio.
Ceshia Ubau adds that being able to form support networks and generate safe spaces to freely talk about feelings, promotion of psychosocial spaces, and calls for free psychological care from different organizations, promoting self-care in the same way.nn“Keep a schedule or a list of things to do during the day and during the week, even if you are not working. This helps to give structure to the days, since usually when migrating in a forced way opens the space for inactivity and sedentary lifestyle”, he pointed out.
Give yourself permission to ask for help
Among the actions that can be worked to face this reality is the community, work teams at different moments of our reality that help us, listen to us and, through accompaniment, contribute and facilitate safe spaces, the experts recommend.nnUbau also adds being aware of the power of a kind gesture towards a person in a vulnerable condition, either due to their economic or immigration situation, ensuring that this sensitizes us to also be a support for someone else and accompany with respect, empathy and love.nnAccording to official WHO data, each year more than 700,000 people commit suicide, with suicide being the fourth leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 29.
