Suicide in Dosquebradas
The most optimistic figures indicate that every day a person tries to end their life in this municipality. What is the dimension of this problem and what is being done to remedy it? Here we tell you
Oscar Osorio Ospina
While around 700,000 people commit suicide each year in the world, for each completed death there are hundreds of attempts to take their own life, to the point that an unfulfilled suicide attempt is considered the single most important risk factor in terms of health. in the general population.
In the case of Dosquebradas, there is no agreement in the figures on this problem, because while the RUAF (Unique Registry of Affiliates) reports 20 suicides in 2022 in this municipality, an official document from the Municipal Health Secretariat speaks of 18 cases. Meanwhile, the SIVIGILA of the Departmental Health Secretariat has a record of 324 suicide attempts, almost one daily. In one way or another, it is, without a doubt, a highly worrying issue.
The document to which we referred is entitled “Life is more. Suicide is everyone’s problem”, which was presented by the Dosquebradas Ministry of Health and Social Security in March of this year.
And it is significant that there is no concordance in the figures handled by the Ministry of Health itself: when describing the number of suicide attempts by level of education, the total number of records reaches 455 and when discriminating them by the marital status of the perpetrators, the sum is 445.
What these figures are very close to is the statistics managed by a social group that, under the leadership of former councilor Manuel Rojas, has been working in this field for several years in a particular way and to which we will allude later.
THE RADIOGRAPHY
The office indicates that among the suicide attempts, in 66% of the cases the protagonists were women and in the remaining 34%, men. The diagnosis specifies that the highest incidence of this problem is established among those under 18 years of age with 46.5%, followed by the segment of 18 to 24 years with 22.5%, then the range of 25 to 29 years with 16% and finally those over 60 with 3%.
Two very significant facts call attention: most of the suicide attempts correspond to people with a basic level of schooling or without education, and in terms of the marital status of the frustrated suicide bombers, the largest number of cases is among singles and in less proportion among those who are in free union.
When analyzing the causes of this situation, family problems appear first with 34%, followed by relationship problems 21%, chronic illness 11%, economic problems 8%, physical, psychological and sexual abuse 8%, death of family 6% and labor problems 5%.
And the main risk factors are associated with a history of psychiatric disorder (depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, personality disorder, and schizophrenia), persistent suicidal ideation, psychoactive substance use, organized suicide plan, history of violence, history of alcoholism, and history of relatives.
Now, in terms of geographical location, the leadership corresponds to Commune 2 with 21.6% of the attempts, followed by Commune 1 with 12.6% and Commune 3 with 10.2%.
PREVENTION PLAN
Faced with this problem, the Department of Health and Social Security of Dosquebradas has launched a plan focused on the prevention of suicide attempts, which is framed in several fields of action.
At the community level, leadership training actions are proposed, at the family level the promotion of strong families and the follow-up of cases, at the educational level a universal prevention strategy and the promotion of mental health and at the institutional level to guarantee the care route, provision of quality health service, case follow-up and case study.
And from the private sector, some groups are moving to help overcome this situation, among them the group to which we referred led by former councilor Rojas and which includes, among other people, the psychologist Fanny Esperanza Molano Franco who for ten years he worked with the district government of Bogotá in different fields, including Line 106 for crisis assistance; nurse and health audit specialist Ana María Sierra, and social and community assistance technician and psychology student Gloria Esther Morales.
The social psychologist Molano Franco points out that the main risk factors that have been analyzed in adults include: being over 45 years of age, impulsiveness, adverse life events, being a widow, separated or divorced, living alone, being unemployed or retired. , having a family history of suicide, previous attempts, having poor physical health, suffering from a mental illness and being a displaced population victim of violence.
In addition, among the main causes are couple conflicts, love breakups, sexual violence, intrafamily violence, violence due to forced displacement, bullying, bullying at school or work, discrimination based on sexual orientation or preferences. , unemployment, precarious socio-economic situation, significant losses and mental and behavioral disorders. In turn, they call attention to some warning signs that must be taken into account to identify possible suicidal behavior, such as the presence of thoughts or plans of self-harm in the last month or act of self-harm in the last year, alterations severe emotional disturbances, hopelessness, agitation or extreme violence, uncommunicative behavior, and social isolation.
VOICE OF ALARM
Former councilman Manuel Rojas points out that several years ago the Municipal Council set off alarms about this situation and debates were promoted with a call to attention about the urgent need to act with certainty and authority in the face of this conflict.
The current councilor, Óscar Mauricio Toro, spoke in similar terms, who during the ten years he was in charge of the Municipal Ombudsman (2008-2018) recurrently requested the commitment of the municipal administration to start building a society where the love for life. “Sometimes life can seem overwhelming. The challenges that come our way can seem insurmountable, just like the sadness. Life can be hard, but there is always hope. We have no power over external events, but we do have power over the mind.
He asked those people who are at risk not to hesitate to seek help, either among the municipal organizations willing to do so or in the social groups that work in this field. “In these difficult moments, you have to remember that no one is alone and that there are people who care about them and are willing to help them. Talking about feelings and emotions can be a very powerful step, don’t be afraid to seek support and talk to someone you trust. Life is precious and prevention is possible”, I note.