Suicide: ‘It’s not a weakness – it’s pain that can be healed’

While psychology and medicine look for answers to suicide, spiritual practitioners approach the subject through different perspectives.

Reiki master Annemari Viviers of Heavenly Healing said suicide is not a moral failing but the result of overwhelming psychological and emotional distress.

She said that she sees it as a point where mental illness, trauma and a loss of meaning converge. “Suicide is not a spiritual weakness,” she said. “It is unbearable pain combined with reduced perceived options.”

Suicide reflects deep emotional pain and loss of meaning

Depression can narrow a person’s perception so severely that hope becomes inaccessible, Viviers said.

While spirituality can help restore meaning and belonging, she said spiritual care should complement psychological and medical treatment, rather than replace it.

Traditional healer Khyle Fezile Pretorius views suicide through the framework of African spiritual traditions, where death is connected to ancestral and communal relationships.

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With this belief system, suicide disrupts the natural spiritual order and requires rituals to restore balance. Cleansing ceremonies using herbs are performed where the death occurred and on the body before burial.

“We start by using specific herbs to cleanse the place where the suicide happened, to release the bad energy there,” Pretorius said. Families may also undergo cleansing rituals and mourning processes.

Families seek answers and closure

Medium Michael Page regularly communicates with the spirit world.

He said families often seek readings after a suicide because they want answers and closure. In his experience, spirits who died by suicide often express sadness.

“They stay in a place of regret for what has been left behind and often seek forgiveness,” Page said.

Help on hand

Looking out for a loved one is important. In South Africa there are 23 suicides a day recorded and 230 serious attempts.

Call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group to talk on behalf of a loved one, colleague, or friend. Trained counsellors are there to help and refer you to local counsellors, facilities and Support Groups.