175,102 suicides committed globally in 60 days

Year 2021 is just 60 days old, yet, no less than 175,102 suicides have been committed globally between January 1 and this moment.

According to the World Health Organisation, one person commits suicide every 40 seconds globally.

The global suicide statistics was revealed by Worldometer, formerly Worldometers, a live world statistics on population, government, economics, society and media, environment, food, water, energy, and health.

Worldometer is owned and operated by a Chinese data company Dadax which generates revenue through online advertising.

The site says it uses statistics released by the WHO to arrive at its calculations.

According to the reference website, over 1,658 people have committed suicide as of the time of filing this report, since the dawn of today (Monday) alone.

Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself.

The World Health Organisation says the risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, especially depression, as well as neurological disorders, cancer, and HIV infection.

The world health body says close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds.

“Suicide is a global phenomenon and occurs throughout the lifespan. Effective and evidence-based interventions can be implemented at population, sub-population, and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts.

“There are indications that for each adult who died by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.

“Suicide is a global phenomenon; in fact, 79 percent of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2016.

“Suicide accounted for 1.4 percent of all deaths worldwide, making it the 18th leading cause of death in 2016,” WHO says.

Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Pinnacle Medical Services, Lagos, Dr. Maymunah Kadiri, noted that COVID-19 contributes to the increased rate of suicide in the world.

“People are angry, it’s difficult adapting to this new normal and the fact that with the online meetings, we are no longer doing activities that will help us to de-stress.

“Lack of exercise or limited hours of exercise is bad; so, those are some of the things that are building up tension, anxiety, depression,” she said.

According to Kadiri, the three mental health disorders on the increase in the world are anxiety, depression, and drug abuse.

“Globally, suicide rate has increased. We do know that depression is highly linked to suicide because when people get depressed, they feel hopeless, worthless, and helpless at a time in their lives.

“When people abuse drugs, they won’t know when they can kill themselves.

“People need to seek help when they need help and be intentional about their lives.

“You need to rest when you need it, engage in pleasurable activities, limit your exposure to excessive media, mute notifications, and uninstall unhealthy apps.

“Again, ask for help when you need it. Understand your stressor, don’t go where you are not needed or supported,” Kadiri counselled.