It is quite appalling that the suicide scourge is
unrelenting, regardless of efforts being made by relevant organisations to
raise awareness around the subject. Every week there are new reports of people
taking their own lives for one reason or the other.
Suicides are an unnecessary and avoidable loss of
life. Apart from robbing people of a loved one, they also sometimes rob
families of their source of income. It can result in huge losses as a result of
insurance policies not paying out following a death of a covered individual at
his/her own hand. Insurance companies usually do not give anything to
beneficiaries of such an individual. So after losing a loved one, you have
another big problem to face when your claim is denied.
Dups policies have a 12-month waiting period. This
means products will not cover death that is due to natural causes if it occurs
within the first 12 months from inception. Death that is due to an accident is
covered immediately after payment of the first premium. A suicide, however,
though a loss as devastating and unexpected as an accident is not treated the
same as an accident. The 12-month waiting period would apply.
It is everyone’s responsibility to be their
brother’s keeper so that there is no unnecessary loss of lives through
suicides. Sometimes we feel professionals must be the ones doing their work to
ensure depressed people get proper counselling or treatment, but the bigger
obligation lies with family and friends who spend more time with suicidal
people and get to see the red flags from behavioural patterns and things they
say. In most cases, following a suicide, there are always people who later come
forward and say, “He did mention it a few times that he was going to kill
himself. We thought he was joking.” An Ezulwini man killed himself this past
week after being jilted by a girlfriend after mentioning suicide, yet people
still thought he was joking. Professionals say when people threaten to commit
suicide, those close to them should never dismiss it as a bad joke or attention-seeking
behaviour. It is usually a genuine cry for help.
For most people, suicide comes in despair caused by
relationship problems, or health problems, especially an HIV diagnosis. Recently,
another man reportedly committed suicide after getting diagnosed with HIV.
According to reports, the man lamented that he had not received sufficient
counselling prior to the test. He told his wife that he would commit suicide,
but she did not take is very seriously. His grievance was corroborated by statements made by a local
psychotherapist in an earlier conversation. She said there were many cases of
people who ended up contemplating suicide following a diagnosis they had not
properly braced themselves for.
Doctors are increasingly reluctant to treat
patients whose status they don’t know. They’ll feel that
they are treating the symptoms not the actual problem. It is vital for people
to know their HIV status so that they can get treatment and relevant advice in
order to prolong their lives. Without adequate counselling, however, lives are
only cut short after people take their own lives. We therefore call on medical
personnel to take all the correct measures when delivering news that can
potentially cause a meltdown.
The
culture of treating suicide as a taboo subject has to be done away with. People
need to speak out more openly about it and make it an important point of
discussion in our daily lives. One life lost to suicide is one life too many. Life
is sanctified, thousands are in hospitals battling to save theirs and we can’t
have people just killing themselves because of problems that can be solved.
Call us on 2505 2028 to find out more about Dups
products and services. You can also pay us a visit at our offices in Manzini,
Matata, Matsapha, Simunye, Nhlangano, Mbabane, Piggs Peak and Siteki.
Alternatively, you can send queries to info@dupsgroup.com, www.facebook.com/dups or on Twitter @dupsinsurance.
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