RISK FACTORS OF SUCIDE AND DEPRESSION AMONG STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE, NIGERIA

Suicide is simply defined as intentional action or inaction carried out with the intent to inflict fatal harm or injury on oneself. The word suicide originates from two Latin words ‘sui’ meaning “self” and ‘caedes’ meaning “murder”. The word suicide first appeared in Sir Thomas Browne’s book ‘religio medici’ first published in the 17th century. The actual usage of the term suicide was to distinguish between accidental death and intentional self-harm leading to death. Depression is one of the frequently diagnosed mental illnesses. Depression is not just when you feel sad or blue, it is way more than been sad. There are some obvious signs and symptoms present when one is depressed, there is actual sadness, poor concentration, insomnia, fatigue, appetite disturbance, excessive guilt or hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. . There is evidence provided throughout this work which proves the rising prevalence of suicide in Nigerian campuses. Nigeria is also reported by the World Health Organisation to have one of the highest incidences of mental health challenges for example depression on the continent, investigation shows very high awareness of these mental health challenges among participants in this study. Most of the participants who are female and male undergraduate students at University of Benin at all levels hold undesirable views toward suicide and other mental challenges. While many students expressed optimism that this deadly trend can be reversed if the right support facilities are in place, accessible data shows that awareness of the available support facilities within the campus is low, and many students do not take advantage of these facilities as a result of ignorance or misinformation that these facilities were not made available to all.