DJ Lithium allegedly caused his own death at the Capital FM offices in Nairobi. Erstwhile Swedish DJ Avicii also apparently offed himself in Muscat, Oman circa 2018. The two DJs may not have had much in common apart from their love of music, production and the turntable but now a rather frowned upon thread connects them into eternity: suicide. While their deaths made news because of their public notoriety, there are many like them who have also opted to sign out of life on their own terms. You may ask yourself why anyone would not want to live or better yet what could have been so bad that the only option out was death?
The questions are endless and unfortunately the people that hold the answers are no longer with us. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), suicide is responsible for one death every 11 minutes, which is pretty wild if you think about it, as in the same time it takes to boil an egg. Msee wa mayai each time anagonga mbili a life disintegrates like the cracked shell of the eggs, complete with a side of kachumbari. I digress. Anyway, life is a mixed bag and can get difficult for many reasons for all of us. There are times when life just won’t let up. One tackle after another with no water breaks in between and this can quickly become very overwhelming especially for those unschooled in adversity.
I know that we shouldn’t glorify suffering, but a relatively normal life with a measured sprinkle of difficulties hapa na pale not only makes for a good story over pints but also serves to build character and impart lessons in a way that no school, parent, caregiver or religion ever could.
Of course, not be simplistic, there are myriad reasons mostly without their control like psychosis, untreated depression, genetics, substance abuse etc. that drive many to make what I imagine to be an impossibly hard decision. I have compassion for them electing to end their overwhelming suffering (whatever this looks like) but also struggle to not feel some type of way about them not caring enough about the family and friends they leave behind full of devastation, guilt, anger, self-recrimination and un-answered questions. It all seems a bit cruel to me the hand that life deals some. You suffer directly or by association, either way you suffer.
Life happens to all of us, granted to some more than others. We all go through challenges and could all do with the more scenic route and lighter load as we run this marathon of life. Please get the help you need if you can when the dark spells are lasting for too long (read more than three months) at a time. Talking and venting out to your friends is a good step but they do not have the skills and training to offer you any real and long lasting help. You can get help from Open Counselling that offers free and low-cost therapy. Kenyatta National Referral Hospital, Mental Health Department also offers free adolescent (youth) friendly psychiatric and psychosocial services at the Youth Centre on the ground floor of the Hospital Tower Block on all working days.
Strong watunguyaz! We live to fight another day (or not).
Mimi wako kwa hali na mali.
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