Suicide rates in the Philippines during the COVID 19 Pandemic

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Virus. A lot of people have been infected with this type of disease around the world. This type of virus requires a lot of special treatment since it can be contagious. The symptoms of this is a mild to moderate respiratory illness. People who already have medical conditions, especially older people, are more likely to get this type of virus. Ever since the Pandemic started there have been plenty of lockdowns across the world, and it affected people's jobs and how they will earn and eat every day. When the Pandemic started a lot of us stayed at home to be able to be safe and keep our families safe as well.

Mental health issues are sometimes ignored in Filipino culture as a symptom of a lack of religious belief. However, these recurring lockdowns show that as people open up and reveal their vulnerabilities, more sensitive care is required. Suicide is the world's largest cause of death. This was a serious public health concern even before the outbreak of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 pandemic. Someone dies in the world every 40 seconds and more than 20 people try to attempt suicide.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), they showed that suicide rates went up to 25.7% in the year 2020. This made it the 27th leading cause of death in the Philippines in 2020. In 2020, 3,529 cases of attempted self-harm were announced, up from 2,808 deaths in 2019. Between the years 2015 and 2020, the number of suicides was a total of 2,630 deaths in the Philippines.

In the year 2020, the National Center for Mental Health reported that they saw that a large number of calls had been made to, the Hotlines since the Pandemic, and lockdowns were announced at the beginning of March. The reason for the large number of calls was Anxiety concerns. When the NCMH noticed that the suicide rates were increasing, they took action and the government forces sought help from religious leaders about this situation.

REFERENCES

Bansigan, J (2021) “Commentary: In desperate bid to fend off COVID-19, the Philippines’ repeated lockdowns create a mental health crisis,” Commentary. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/philippines-lockdown-stress-frustration-suicide-unemployment-distress-2115551

News Desk (2020) “Philippines: Official says COVID-19 responsible for a mental health crisis.” Outbreak News Today. http://outbreaknewstoday.com/philippines-official-says-covid-19-responsible-for-mental-health-crisis-34872/

Rosales, K. (2021) “Pandemic year sees 57% rise in suicide rate in the Philippines.” Philstar news https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/07/06/2110596/pandemic-year-sees-57-rise-suicide-rate-philippines