Under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Professor Dr. Sarmed H. Kathem Alkhateeb, the University Psychological Counseling Unit at the University of Baghdad/College of Pharmacy held an in-person workshop entitled “Suicide: Hidden Causes and Prevention Methods, ” delivered by Lecturer Dr. Sarah Hashem Muhaibis, a faculty member at the Clinical Laboratory Sciences Department.
The workshop aimed to identify the hidden causes of suicide, rather than focusing solely on the phenomenon itself, and to raise students’ awareness about the seriousness of the issue and its psychological and social impacts.
The workshop included several topics, including understanding suicide in terms of its underlying causes and the associated psychological and social factors, as well as identifying risk factors and early warning signs. Also , it focused on methods of prevention and early intervention, the role of healthcare professionals in awareness and psychological support and emphasized the importance of breaking social stigma and encouraging help-seeking behavior.
The workshop concluded that suicide is the result of accumulated underlying factors that can be detected early, rather than a sudden event, and that prevention depends on awareness, early intervention, and effective psychological support.
