The Head Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church at Kwadaso in Kumasi, Rev Nicholas Opoku –Agyemang reported to have committed suicide on Monday might have done so because of the established norm that pastors don’t share their emotional problems with others, according to a clinical psychologist.
They help others to solve their problems so when they (pastors) are in a crisis, they are at a loss as to who to turn to, Mr. Emmanuel Asampong, the psychologist told the Times in Accra yesterday.
He was giving an opinion on what could have made the pastor take his own life.
He said “A sick medical doctor seeks medical advice from a colleague doctor and I expect a counseller to do same when he faces emotional challenges.”
Mr. Asampong noted that those who help to deal with emotional problems of others hardly pay attention to their own challenges.
He said when people were confronted with challenges various means were found to surmount them. However, when the problem persisted for a long time without a solution, a sense of hopelessness set in.
“It is then that people begin to resort to all kinds of methods to end or address their predicament.”
Some people he said, tried to call attention to themselves by threatening or attempting to commit suicide while others would actually commit suicide as in the case of Rev. Opoku Agyemang.
Mr. Asampong advised that people should disregard their social status and seek professional advice when faced with emotional problems.
The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Fred Degbee asked people to be each other’s keeper in order to avoid the temptation of suicide.
He said circumstances under which Rev. Opoku-Agyemang ended his life were mind boggling, especially when he did not leave behind any note to explain why he took that action.
Rev. Deegbe, who is the head pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Accra, however, said that the late pastor’s cry for help might not have been taken seriously because “everybody thinks that he is a pastor who gives advice to people always. But the question is, who Pastors the Pastor? “
“In our society, people don’t take the cries of others seriously. If someone complains of something, all we hear from their friends is that it will be fine. But if we open up and say ‘I am here for you and ready to assist you,’ it will give hope and inspiration,” he said.
Rev. Deegbe said people who had problems should also know that there were avenues for help, adding that “help given must also be received.”
He said it was possible that the late Pastor had a problem and resorted to that drastic action, because he did not have a close confidant with whom to discuss it.
A lecturer in Communications Studies at the Ghana Institute of Journalism Mr. Daniel Kondor opined that the Pastor failed to seek counseling from experts because he considered himself also as a counsellor.
“He thought that he must not be seen to be going elsewhere for advice when he always offered advice to other,” he said and added that the last resort was likely to be suicide when the pressure piled up without any solution.
Meanwhile 1,566, people, are reported to have committed suicide in Ghana, in 2008, according to Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Samuel Yawson.
Of the number 1,124 were males and 442 were females.
Dr Yawson, who was speaking on Choice fm, an Accra radio station, attributed the high incidence of suicide cases among men to impotency, poverty, problems with parents, among other issues. For women failed love relationships and marriages were the common reasons why women commit suicide in Ghana.
He said suicide was prevalent among people between the ages of 20 and 35 and added that 734 people in that age group took their lives in 2008.
According to Dr. Yawson, the statistics showed a decline in suicide cases in 2009. He did not give specific figures.
They help others to solve their problems so when they (pastors) are in a crisis, they are at a loss as to who to turn to, Mr. Emmanuel Asampong, the psychologist told the Times in Accra yesterday.
He was giving an opinion on what could have made the pastor take his own life.
He said “A sick medical doctor seeks medical advice from a colleague doctor and I expect a counseller to do same when he faces emotional challenges.”
Mr. Asampong noted that those who help to deal with emotional problems of others hardly pay attention to their own challenges.
He said when people were confronted with challenges various means were found to surmount them. However, when the problem persisted for a long time without a solution, a sense of hopelessness set in.
“It is then that people begin to resort to all kinds of methods to end or address their predicament.”
Some people he said, tried to call attention to themselves by threatening or attempting to commit suicide while others would actually commit suicide as in the case of Rev. Opoku Agyemang.
Mr. Asampong advised that people should disregard their social status and seek professional advice when faced with emotional problems.
The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Fred Degbee asked people to be each other’s keeper in order to avoid the temptation of suicide.
He said circumstances under which Rev. Opoku-Agyemang ended his life were mind boggling, especially when he did not leave behind any note to explain why he took that action.
Rev. Deegbe, who is the head pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Accra, however, said that the late pastor’s cry for help might not have been taken seriously because “everybody thinks that he is a pastor who gives advice to people always. But the question is, who Pastors the Pastor? “
“In our society, people don’t take the cries of others seriously. If someone complains of something, all we hear from their friends is that it will be fine. But if we open up and say ‘I am here for you and ready to assist you,’ it will give hope and inspiration,” he said.
Rev. Deegbe said people who had problems should also know that there were avenues for help, adding that “help given must also be received.”
He said it was possible that the late Pastor had a problem and resorted to that drastic action, because he did not have a close confidant with whom to discuss it.
A lecturer in Communications Studies at the Ghana Institute of Journalism Mr. Daniel Kondor opined that the Pastor failed to seek counseling from experts because he considered himself also as a counsellor.
“He thought that he must not be seen to be going elsewhere for advice when he always offered advice to other,” he said and added that the last resort was likely to be suicide when the pressure piled up without any solution.
Meanwhile 1,566, people, are reported to have committed suicide in Ghana, in 2008, according to Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Samuel Yawson.
Of the number 1,124 were males and 442 were females.
Dr Yawson, who was speaking on Choice fm, an Accra radio station, attributed the high incidence of suicide cases among men to impotency, poverty, problems with parents, among other issues. For women failed love relationships and marriages were the common reasons why women commit suicide in Ghana.
He said suicide was prevalent among people between the ages of 20 and 35 and added that 734 people in that age group took their lives in 2008.
According to Dr. Yawson, the statistics showed a decline in suicide cases in 2009. He did not give specific figures.
