What Was the Incidence of Suicides in Jalisco During the Pandemic? Bruno Lopez Nuno - ZonaDocs
go to original December 17, 2021

An increase in suicides generated mostly among young people between 12 and 29 years of age has caused Jalisco to be the state with the second highest incidence of suicides in the country; 75% occurred in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.

The current coronavirus pandemic has generated a demand of work in the health sector derived from respiratory diseases as well as mental health assistance. The Jalisco Institute of Mental Health (Salme) reported that, of the 26,208 outpatients seen this year, 18% are minors, which represents two out of every 10 people seen.

This high incidence was recorded at the beginning of the pandemic by COVID-19, in that year (2020) in Jalisco, 570 suicides were recorded and so far in 2021 the report is 316, of which the greatest impact of suicide is found among young people aged 15 to 35 years, also highlighting that men commit twice as many suicides as women.

"It is a worrying situation that we are living the amount of suicides that are being presented, three per week we get a news of a chat and if we put the suicide attempts, five a week is a problem that is growing machismo," detailed the director of the Jalisco Institute of Mental Health, Francisco Javier Ramirez Barreto.

The Increase of Cases in Jalisco

In Mexico, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography and Informatics (INEGI), indicates that the suicide rate is 5.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants, being also the fifth cause of death in children under 15 years of age, added to the fact that in the last 10 years in that segment of people the numbers have increased by almost a thousand percent.

This situation is reflected in the suicide rates in the last 10 years, as it has suffered an increase of 44% in relation to suicides in Jalisco; since 2012, the number of intentionally self-inflicted injuries (suicides) has increased to more than 500 cases per year, in addition to the fact that in the last year and a half there has been an increase in cases in which minors decide to end their lives.

Faced with the constant sum of suicides in the State, the researcher of the University of Guadalajara José de Jesús Gutiérrez Rodríguez, indicated that the Jalisco Institute of Mental Health (Salme) reported that in 2019 out of 600 cases of suicide 317 (52.3%) were of young people from 15 to 34 years old, in the same way it was reported that from January to June 43 minors committed suicide, which is equivalent to a suicide for every 12 days, added to this every year the cases have an increase that ranges between 10 and 17%.

This has caused Jalisco to have one of the highest rates of depression, anxiety and suicides in people between 20 and 30 years old. In addition to the above, he pointed out that the state has climbed in the national table from sixth to second place (only below the State of Mexico and followed by the Federal District), and although the cases of public suicides that have occurred in the last months of 2021 are alarming, he mentions that there is more alarm for the private cases that account for 80% of the cases.

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This article was translated from Spanish using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.