Owen Gee opens up on contemplating Suicide as new Initiative “Live and Not Die” Launches

Comedian Owen Gee has revealed that 2017 was a rocky year for him, having “suicidal tendencies” and using medication for depression.

According to Punch, Owen Gee revealed this during the launch of suicide prevention initiative Live and Not Die (LAND).

The initiative aims at stopping the rise of suicide in the country.

Owen Gee, telling his story, shared that while on medication for depression, he learned that no drug could “calm depression.” He said:

I have had suicidal tendencies. Last year, I tried several things, but they did not work out. It was not because the ideas were bad, but the people I was working with just didn’t let them work out. Then anxiety and depression set in.

It was then I realised that no drug could calm depression. There was hardly anyone I didn’t take. There was a time I was sleeping on drugs.

There was a particular yellow tablet that, if I took it on Tuesday, on Wednesday I would only be prompted to barely wake up, eat and go back to sleep even before I finished eating. I would not wake up until Thursday.

Convener of LAND, Kunle Pelemo, shared that the inspiration for the initiative came to him after helping a friend through suicidal thoughts.

The aim of LAND is to achieve a zero-suicide society, he said.

The idea and passion for suicide prevention dawned on me after my intervention helped to prevent a friend and protégé from carrying out the destructive act.

At LAND, we realise that there is always a gap between the period of suicide ideation and the act. If we care enough to render support to people prone to suicide, we will achieve a zero-suicide society