Unfairly criticized by The Caribbean Voice (Pt One)

Dear Editor,
I would like to address several issues raised by The Caribbean Voice (TCV) regarding my recent letter, in late August, on suicide in Guyana.
TCV states as follows:
“The Caribbean Voice wonders why Ms Baliram (whose letter was recently published in the local media) is casting doubt on the 2015 suicide rate for Guyana, which shows a reduction from 44.2 to 30.6 per 1000,000 [sic] inhabitants, and not all or any previous rates.”
I have always been skeptical about the WHO statistics on suicide, particularly for Guyana; where misclassification, under-reporting, poor data collection methods/procedures, and heavy corruption are serious problems skewing the data. Moreover, my skepticism has intensified since there has been a robust increase in the suicide rate in 2012 for males, females and both sexes, followed by a sharp decline in 2015 in spite that the primary triggers (root causes) arising out of the social, economic and political turmoil remain virtually unaddressed and that interventions of any kind remain sparse. Such an increase in the 2012 data is only possible:  (a) if something unusual had pushed almost twice the number of Guyanese into suicide (b) or if the data is of poor quality. The latter is highly plausible, since there was nothing unusual in 2012. Obviously, the 2012 data obscures the consistent increase in the suicide rate and gives the false impression of a decline. Given this narrative, I do not see how, in good conscience, anyone can speak of a real reduction in suicide in this country.
TCV states as follows:
“According to Ms Baliram, a significant reduction in suicide can come about by addressing the abnormally high levels of stress arising out of the catastrophic social, economic and political conditions. Stress mechanistically drives suicide directly or indirectly by disrupting brain functions, thereby unleashing mental illness (e.g. depression, schizophrenia etc.) or substance abuse (e.g. alcoholism), or both. Stress basically hijacks the brain in eliciting suicidal behaviours.

The limited characterization by Ms Baliram runs counter to the complete picture.”
(A) I am highly confident that I have advanced a fundamental hypothesis on suicide in this country. But it was unfairly criticized by TCV. I am convinced that unbearable stress drives the bulk of this problem, which causes Guyana’s suicide rate to stand above the global average. Even though TCV talks about copycatting and other secondary issues arising from stress (depression, anxiety, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, dysfunctional relationships, and divorce, etc) in impacting suicide, it obviously fails to see this connection.  (b) TCV needs to know that stress in itself is a risk factor for suicide. Additionally, it is the key player driving this problem in this country because it is chronic, abundantly high, and is unbearable.  Moreover, stress has the ability to rewire the brain through alterations in its chemistry, its cellular structures, and gene expressions and functions (dubbed here as hijacked brain) in diminishing the ability to cope with life situations.  (c) TCV also unreasonably complained that my explanation is limited. TCV needs to know that, as a research scientist, my job is to zero in on the crux of the problem, and this is precisely what I have done. I am not sure why TCV is unable to map the details to the key points I have outlined. TCV needs to know that it is expected of anyone working in the area of suicide to be able to do this. TCV needs to know that due to my academic training, I have no trouble elaborating on the intricate details in a forum which permits the publication of lengthy articles with complex diagrams, due to the complexity of suicide. In fact, I have created a model explaining suicide in this country with stress as the key player, and I hope to share this with the Guyanese people in the near future.

Sincerely,
Annie Baliram