Yucatán ranks top in national suicide rates

So far this year, 115 people have committed suicide in Yucatan, which has placed the state in first place in Mexico. With this new data, the state surpassed Tabasco and Campeche to move into first place, El Diario de Yucatán reported.

Although Yucatan’s suicide rate is still 10 percent below the one recorded last year, with 220 suicides, it is expected that if it continues the way it is, it might outdo such numbers. During this holiday period, twelve people have committed suicide in the state.

According to the Mental Health Department, Ministry of Health, economic problems, break-ups, terminal illnesses, and addictions are what trigger people, who already suffer from depression, to attempt on their lives; suicide ages range between 14 to 85 years old. Mérida registers around 50 percent of the suicides in Yucatan, as it is the state’s capital; southern and western areas of the city have recorded the greatest numbers.

Additionally, according to the figures, 85 percent of the victims have been male. Despite government campaigns to combat depression and thus, suicide, the rates continue on the rise. As stated by psychologist Carlos Bracamontes, the campaign undertaken by the government is not effective, as it does not reach the most vulnerable areas and does not address the problem directly.

From 2015 until mid-2017, almost 600 people in Yucatan have committed suicide. The vast majority showed signs and warned their relatives or friends about putting an end to their lives; 16% of the victims were 18 years old or younger. The youngest recorded was an 11-year-old boy from San Jose Tecoh in 2015. Moreover, the youngest from 2017 has been a 14-year-old teenager, and the oldest was a man -aged 85 – who took his own life as a result of his illnesses; both of them were from Merida.

SOURCE: El Diario de Yucatán

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