Merida, Yucatan — With Saturday’s self-inflicted death of a 26-year-old woman in Tizimín after an argument with her husband, the number of 2019 suicides in Yucatan has reached 100.
According to the Ministry of Health, from January to May there were 95 suicides in Yucatan, most commonly in Merida. Three were minors. June saw five suicides in its first eight days.
This figure is actually lower than the same period of 2018, which registered 112 self-inflicted deaths, including four adolescents. Last year closed out with record suicide numbers in Yucatan.
Yucatan’s suicide rate is more than double the national average and is five times higher than the state’s murder rate.
Of the suicides, 79 were men, 13 were women and three were adolescents (one male and two female); 38 occurred in Mérida, 10 in Kanasín, five in Umán, three each in Motul, Progreso and Valladolid; and two in Baca and Temax.
They are followed by individual instances in Sotuta, Cansahcab, Ticul, Acanceh, Celestun, Cuzamá, Maní and Río Lagartos.
In 81 of these self-inflicted deaths, the method was hanging and 10 took poison. Other methods were not reported.
What has caught the attention of mental health authorities is how young the most recent suicide victims are. They range from 20 to 32.
Yucatan ended 2018 with 235 suicides, a figure that broke the record of 226 registered in 2016. Again, most of the deceased were men who hanged themselves, most often in Merida and its metropolitan area.
How to get help
For expert suicide counseling, reach out to:
- Salvemos una Vida (Let’s save a Life), AC, 999-924-5991.
- Programa Integral para la Atención del Suicidio (Comprehensive Program for Suicide Care), 999-310-3662 or programapias@hotmail.com
- Free mental health support line: 01-800-000-0779.
Staff may not be able to communicate with a caller who is not proficient in Spanish, so enlisting a bilingual friend could be helpful.
With information from Sipse
