South Sudan and Sudan have been ranked as the world’s top countries with a record number of mental health and suicides.

World Mental Health Day theme for 2019 is suicide prevention.

According to the World Health Organization, almost every 40 seconds, someone loses their life.

The organization launched an awareness campaign called “40 seconds of action” to raise awareness of the large scale of suicide around the world.

The key focus this year is to attract the government’s attention to the issue so that it is given priority in public agendas across the world.

In South Sudan, a psychologist at Juba teaching Hospital says traumatic experiences from violence, financial difficulties are the main cause of mental breakdown in the country.

Fatima Darious says she has received several reports of people committing suicide, mainly in Juba.

“In the last two years, there has been an increase in the rate of suicide,” she told Eye Radio on Friday.

“The reasons behind are financial and familial problems. Others take drugs with the aim to reduce and minimize problems, thinking by doing that they can avoid or find solution to their problems. But later, that act will result in suicide.”

Fatima says there is only one mental health center in South Sudan but is not known to the general public.

WHO says suicides are preventable, as the victims often do not want to end their lives, just the momentary pain in their lives caused by depression and anxiety.

The UN health agency further states that the primary focus should be on creating awareness about mental health at the national, community as well as individual level.

WHO believes that people with suicidal tendencies just need someone to speak to or fall back upon.