Daily Times

Sir: An Algerian man recently killed himself by jumping off the highest level of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. His family has since then said that he was trying to be closer to his mother. The lady died in 2007 and her son had not been able to deal with life without her since then.

This man lived in pain for more than a decade. He leaves behind three children and was only 23 at the time of his death. When he was just 14 years old he was performing Hajj with his mother, but instead of returning home with her, he had to bury her in Makkah.

The one thing that I think we must truly focus on is how we deal with depression. This is not the story of a man who remained stuck in one place. He was only a 14-year-old when his mother died, but then he moved on in life — evidenced by the fact that he had three children.

What caused him to give up? The reality is that we do not take depression seriously. If someone is physically hurt, we tell them to see a doctor, get medication, and get help. Moreover, someone who is in physical pain has many people to help. The situation is completely the opposite when it comes to people who are dealing with mental health issues.

Our society sees mental health issues as a joke. People are not in favour of getting any kind of help or therapy and often these illnesses are seen as the work of jinns. This attitude has to change if we are to ensure happiness and holistic health.

When I think of the man that jumped to his death, at a place that brings hope to millions, I cannot think of anything except the fact that I never wish to feel that level of hopelessness and despair. Obviously, just praying did not help the man — what better place can you pray at than in the heart of our most holiest sites?

I wish someone had directed the young man to a doctor who could have helped him figure out a way to move past his mother’s death. I wish someone had supported him enough for him to look towards the future of his children. I wish people around him had taken mental health more seriously.

We see suicide as this selfish evil without realising that people are living their own private hell every single day. Right now, many are focused on whether the man went into heaven or hell. In reality, we need to instead talk about why he didn’t have enough help.

Pakistan is plagued with this issue as well. Day by day, our people are waking up to such problems. Wouldn’t it be better for us to build a supportive environment so that such problems can be dealt with? Otherwise, we have no one else to blame for such suicides. In addition, telling people to pray the pain away is just an easy way of pretending the problems do not exist.

GHULAM HUSAIN

Lahore

Published in Daily Times, June 14^th 2018.