Baguio suicide cases alarming says mental health expert

Local health and mental health experts disclosed that the suicide cases in the city is alarming following the increase in mental health issues among adolescents primarily because of their exposure to the social media among other aggravating factors.

Ricky Ducas, Jr., mental health program coordinator of the City health Services office, said that suicide cases significantly increased at the height of the COvId-19 pandemic because of their mental health issues that had been triggered by the series of lockdowns that were enforced that kept them isolated in their homes.

Based on the data obtained from the CHSO, there were some 19 suicide cases that were reported in 2019 before increasing to 30 cases in 2020 or during the implementation of community quarantine restrictions.

Further, suicide cases increased to 37 in 2021 before slighting dropping to 33 last year.

For this year, Ducas reported 6 suicide cases, 3 males and 3 females, compared to the 12 suicide cases that were documented during the first quarter of 2022.

The mental health program coordinator explained that the figures were based on the family members and relatives that processed the death certificates of their love ones who allegedly committed suicide.

He claimed that the age range of the suicide victims is from 15 to 29 years old or mostly adolescence as the same is the stage where there is the so-called transition from childhood to adulthood.

According to him, the exposure of the people to the social media is one of the primary triggering factors of the suicide cases that were documented in the city as the same could either make or break emotions due to the ones that are posted in the various platforms.

Ducas advised parents to be observant on the behavior of their children so that they will be able to prevent attempts to commit suicide once there are evident changes in the way they think, the way they feel and the way they act for them to be able to immediately seek advise from experts to prevent such incidents to happen.

Worldwide data showed that there are more than 700,000 suicide incidents that had been recorded in the different countries around the world where most of them were traced to mental issues of the victims.

Experts claimed that mental issues are prevalent among females while males are the ones prone to commit suicide.

Concerned government agencies and the local government are now aligning appropriate interventions that will be implemented to prevent the further increase in suicide cases in the city to ensure that whatever mental health issues being encountered by the youth and the adults will be given immediate attention for the same to be immediately addressed to avoid the commission of untoward incidents leading to the loss of innocent lives. – Dexter A. See