It is never this bad folks! Always keep your chin up!
B: Economic crisis sparks rise in suicide rate in Uruguay
Montevideo, Oct 10, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Desperate and without hope, more
and more Uruguayans are turning to suicide to escape the country's bleak
economic outlook, a mental health expert warned Thursday.
"The alarm has sounded, and the problem needs more attention from authorities
and society as a whole," Silvia Pelaez, a psychiatrist who heads the
non-governmental organization Last Resort, told EFE.
Over the last few months as the country's worse economic crisis ever has become
even worse, the number of calls to Last Resort's suicide help-line has "grown
significantly", Pelaez said.
In January, the NGO received 75 calls for help, and by May the number had
doubled. In July, when Uruguay's peso fell from 17 to 30 per dollar, Last Resort
received 230 calls and 250 the following month.
Two years ago, 31 percent of the callers blamed the economy for their
depression. This year, some 60 percent say they are considering suicide because
of the economic crisis, Pelaez notes.
"Most of the calls are from women, but more men actually commit suicide," she
said.
Unemployment, which hit a record 17.2 percent in August, "makes many men feel
that they have failed in their role as family provider," Pelaez said.
Suicide "is an avoidable and foreseeable disease. It is a spokesman for what is
happening in the country, a kind of collective earthquake," caused by thousands
of desperate Uruguayans that needs urgent attention, the Last Resort director
said.
Government health officials are reluctant to release suicide figures, saying it
does not help resolve the situation "especially when the victim is a famous
person," said psychiatrist Hector Puppo, the recently named director of the
Health Ministry's Mental Health program.
Although he acknowledged a sharp rise in suicide cases, Puppo preferred to avoid
putting the blame on the country's economic situation because "the causes are
too complex and are also greatly influenced by family and social issues".
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Copyright (c) 2002. Agencia EFE S.A. |
