Social media aggravates suicide effects on society – Neuro-psychiatrist

A Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Maymunah Kadiri, on Friday, said social media could aggravate the effects of suicide on the populace.

The mental health expert, who is the Medical Director, Pinnacle Medical Services Ltd., made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

She said suicide cases generally are worsened by the way they are reported on social media handles, noting that such is not helpful.

Kadiri emphasised the need to report suicide cases responsibly in order not to cause more harm to the victim and society.

According to her, people are now more aware of suicide because of social media, and this has exposed many people to the good and bad behaviours that can lead to suicide.

She also said the suicide rate is high in Nigeria due to social media abuse, noting that many things people watch on their mobile phones are not helpful.

She said, “The way suicide cases are being reported on social media is not helpful. Most times, social media fuels the anxiety that is associated with the incident.

“For instance, if a man jumped into the lagoon. Immediately, it will be posted on the social media.

“The incident will be trending on the internet to the extent that every social media handle you open, the next thing you will see is the story of a man who jumped into a lagoon.

“Some social media handles will even go to the extent of posting the person’s picture or mentioning his or her name.

“It is not supposed to be so because it is not only creating more awareness of the incident but also aggravating its impacts on the victim, his family and the general public.

“That’s why it is important that suicide cases should be reported responsibly on social media in order not to cause more damage.”

She explained that through social media, people have known the easiest and fastest ways to commit suicide.

Kadiri decried the fact that many people have become addicted to phones and social media that they can’t spend a minute without picking up their phones to navigate through social media handles.

“To these set of people; everything they see on the internet is expected to be true, reliable and practicable.

“Unfortunately, not everything posted on social media is realistic, people exaggerate issues to suit their desires on the internet,” she said.

The neuropsychiatrist further lamented that people spend too much time on social media, which to a great extent affects their mental health.

She, however, said that “social media is a good technological innovation, but has been used by many people to exaggerate their strengths and achievements rather than a combination of strengths and weaknesses.