Although it is a major public health problem – for a long time more people have died from it than in traffic accidents – suicide has been slow to enter public debate and is still taboo, for example, from publication in the media. Monthly cases in the city. It is since incarceration left on mental health at a general level due to the pandemic and the dangerous consequences when much has started to be said about the emotional state of people and, in parallel, about suicide attempts and deaths from it Has gone. Cause Burgos has a rate of 9.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, which is two points higher than the national average but half that of the European Union.
According to data from the Burgos Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, the year 2022 ended with a total of 30 suicides across the province, an average of just over two per month. It is mostly a men’s problem, as of all those who died, 25 were men and 5 were women. According to the center’s director of forensics, Amador Martínez Tejedor, the ages varied greatly: the oldest was 89 and the youngest 23, but those at 87, 82, 75, 64, 54, 51 ended their lives. . lives. 33 or 26 years.
«With this figure we have returned to the path of previous years. The two decades we spent in Burgos saw between 30 and 33 suicides each year, but in 2021 it rose to 38, a figure that revealed a distinct increase from which no significant conclusions can be drawn, but which showed the rate. increased to 10.4”, explains the expert.
While it is never easy to explain why there are people who decide to have these characteristics and Martínez Tejedor warns that it is a multifactorial problem, it would not be risky to point to the moment of change that occurred between 2020 and 2021. . How being in the middle of the covid pandemic has changed the lives of so many people in such a radical way: «You can sign up for the post-release pressure for which we are all imprisoned or worse diagnosed with psychiatric symptoms were subject to. The moment he lived the health system. It would not be out of place to even think about the speed with which events have happened and the individualism that has given rise to the pandemic.
Faced with this situation, actions to raise awareness in society have long been stepped up, but the coroner believes it will still take time for the statistics to better reflect this disclosure. “It is very beneficial that more and more people talk about it and that work is starting from all sectors, as it is already being done, but it will take even more time before we see some results. ”
Martínez Tejedor recalls that behind suicidal behavior in a high percentage of cases there is a mental health problem and that the main risk of suicide is that there has been a prior attempt. For this reason, it is of great positive importance that not only has a regional plan been put into practice, but also that the Burgos University Hospital has launched its functional prevention unit with the aim of taking care of those before the age of 72. Is. For anyone who has an idea or an autolytic attempt, and that various social strata (academic, health, social, media, security forces, justice…) have joined the suicide prevention support group, Apresuik, Which creates an enormous informational task before schools, institutions, associations and professionals from all walks of life.
“It is very important that there is good co-ordination between all sectors so that there is more efficiency in early detection, in supporting those affected,” adds the coroner, who, nevertheless, seeks to be optimistic for the future. : « Just the fact that they started talking about it more generally is already very valuable. I am hopeful that all these measures which are being taken and their proper coordination will give good results soon.
Asking for help
> Emergency telephone: 112
> Suicidal Behavior Care Line: 024
> Support groups for survivors.
[email protected], [email protected]. They are also found on Facebook as a Suicide Survivors Support Group. Composed of people who have lost someone because of this.
>Asha’s phone.
Call on the following numbers 947 10 71 09/647 907 096/717 003 717
> Association for Mental Health (ProSem).
Telephone: 947 22 39 16. Email: [email protected].
>Suicide Prevention Support Group (Apresuic).
[email protected]. He can also be found on Instagram at the account @prevencionssuicidio.burgos.
