A toll-free suicide crisis line aimed at teenagers was opened late last week by the South African Anxiety and Depression Group (Sadag) to coincide with matric exams — and calls have already doubled since the start of the exams on Monday.
The toll-free line supplements three paid lines dating from 1995. Before the advent of the free line, calls generally increased by 50% during exam time. This week’s increase in calls, says Julia Zacharis, general manager of Sadag, was the result of exam pressure — although she concedes the new toll-free line may be a factor.
Sadag has Department of Health funding for three months. The Johannesburg-based group was used to receiving about 100 calls a day, but has been fielding about 200 a day for a week from all over the country.
Calls are being received from teenagers ”who are feeling the pressure of exams”, says Zacharis. Part of this pressure can be ascribed to a lack of support, a lack of communication and pressure to perform.
In December last year 50% of calls made to Sadag were from teenagers after receiving matric results. The hopelessness they feel, she says, is because they see no future for themselves. Those who call in include students who have failed, cannot afford bursaries and are extremely poor.
Many teenagers who call in are at the end of their tether, says Joanna Kleovoulou, project manager at Sadag. ”A lot of kids are feeling stressed and concerned for next year. They’re worried that they won’t pass as they are not prepared. There is pressure at home to pass.”
She says that issues they face at home are largely practical. There is too much noise to study and in rural areas they have to share bedrooms and have no time to study. Sadag suggests solutions such as going to the library, setting up a schedule or staying at school and using a classroom to study.
There is a feeling of hopelessness among young adults who leave school and cannot find work, adds Zane Wilson, Sadag’s founder. ”The impact of poverty on depression and suicide is too terrible for words.”
While the national Department of Education expects increased anxiety during exam time, Duncan Hindle, deputy director general, said that ”there is a huge public perception that if you don’t pass matric, or not well enough for an exemption, that is the end of the road”.
But a huge number of people without matric have been successful in life, he said.
South Africa’s suicide rate is 17,2 per 100 000, higher than the global average of 16 per 100 000, says Professor Lourens Schlebusch of the department of medically applied psychology at the University of Natal’s Nelson R Mandela school of medicine.
With teenagers, he says, there is an added dimension. ”The fact that they are impulsive puts them at a higher risk. The younger kids’ understanding of the process of suicide is that it is reversible.”
Teenagers contemplating suicide can reach the suicide crisis line on 0800 567 567