Dream to change the world

WHEN WE first started to do cultural interventions with vulnerable youth, suicide was not one of the major areas that we addressed. We treated with issues like sexuality, peer pressure, violence or anger management.

It is concerning to see that today, another area of crisis has become prominent, needing our urgent attention.

Alarmingly, Dr Varma Deyalsingh, secretary of the Association of Psychiatrists of TT, is quoted as saying that the third highest cause of death amongst teenagers in TT is suicide. Globally, it is the second leading cause of death amongst 15-29-year-olds.

Shockingly, “over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year and there are many more who attempt suicide.” From a medical perspective, suicide is included under the mental health field of study.

When looked at in this way, it is easier to understand that it is not something that just happens, but is rather a complicated phenomenon that develops over time and has many triggers.

Research shows that in TT “an important contributor to our suicide rate is ‘social distress’.” Social distress is a concept that we can all relate to and understand. For adults, it can range from unemployment to crime and family; for young people their stresses stem from the traditional factors of peer pressure, acceptability, identity, fear of failure and so on.

Sadly, the 21st century youth faces another enormous hurdle, that of social media, with the desire to fit in being reflected in the almost obsessive posts, “likes”, selfies, “friending”, “unfriending” and even online predators and cyber-bullying.

This is not to deny the positive aspects of the online world such as access to information, being able to stay connected with friends and family and even enhancing political awareness.

However, a 2015 study on teens in the US revealed that constant engagement with technology limits the ability of the brain to develop empathy or caring about other people, because this capacity is triggered when we daydream.

It suggests that if we are spending less time reflecting on our values and on other people, we are effectively creating a generation of people whose overriding commitment is not to community or family but to “self ”.

Further, if you listen to teenagers here, in addition to online pressures, they are struggling with alcohol and drug use, managing their workload and wanting to fit in. Our multi-ethnic landscape adds another dimension — that of identity.

As I have written before, we have yet to manage our issues of race, colour and class. Our inability to treat with these as a nation manifests itself in negative behaviours like skin bleaching, self-mutilation and yes, eventually, suicide. Discussions with social workers and others in the field reveal that parents and educators are often not well equipped to provide solutions.

From our own experience, young people speak to young people, mainly because their experience is that adults cannot relate to them in the ways they require.

As performers, we are able to break through those barriers because we are not seen as traditional authority figures. It explains why young people respond to rap artists, soca stars and popular personas, because the artists create and sing the music, wear the clothes and speak the language to which they respond.

Now that we know the statistics, it is time to act. We need to reach into our cultural souls to counter negative influences, encourage more dreaming and stop the scourge of suicide amongst our precious youth.

D a r a Healy is a perform a n c e artist and f o u n d - er of the NGO, the I n d i g e - nous Creative Arts Network – ICAN.