Prague, Aug 31 (CTK) – Four people commit suicide in the Czech Republic a day on average, while the number of children and the elderly among them has been rising, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday.
Experts point out that this trend is caused by the lack of targeted suicide prevention in the Czech Republic, unlike other European countries.
General practitioners should also undergo a special training to be able to reveal a potential suicide in their surgeries, LN says, citing experts.
The highest number of suicides is committed on Monday, in March and April and on January 1.
LN writes that the number of suicides started to steeply rise in 2008 when an economic crisis erupted in Europe.
In the Czech Republic, the worst year was 2012 when 1647 people killed themselves, which was 16 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the European average was 11.6. Since then the number of suicides has been falling, but not as quickly as in other EU countries, LN adds.
Financial problems are still one of the most frequent reasons for suicide, especially among men who in general commit suicide more frequently than women. Last year, 1195 men committed suicide out of 1488 in total.
In the 1980s, under the communist regime, there were 2.6 male suicides per one female, while at present the proportion is five to one, LN writes.
Other frequent suicide reasons are unemployment, divorce and high alcohol consumption.
Experts also point out the rising number of child suicides, which is one of the highest figures in the EU. About 50 Czech teenagers kill themselves a year, LN says.
Experts also try to refute the general opinion that the people who are considering suicide do not speak about it.
“Most of them either speak or are willing to speak about it. People show symptoms that may indicate that they are considering something like that [suicide],” Petr Winkler, from the National Institute of Mental Health, told LN, adding that this is especially true about children.
“Children’s aggressive behaviour is often a signal indicating that something is wrong and they actually call for help. They may also tell their schoolmates that life is pointless or mention various ways of committing suicide,” David Cap, from the psychology chair of Charles University, said.
An exception are children who are bullied at school. They do not speak about their problem with anyone, he added.
In addition, more and more elderly people decide to end their lives. This is also connected with the rising number of the elderly who are maltreated, Alena Krasna, from the help line for seniors, pointed out. According to estimates, one in five seniors has been maltreated, most often by family members or nursing staff.
The Czech Republic fails to reduce the number of suicides as much as other EU countries since people with some psychological problems are still stigmatised in society, LN writes, referring to expert opinions.
As many people fear to consult specialists, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, general practitioners should pay more attention to their patients’ psychological conditions, above all in the case of the elderly, Winter said.
He, however, admits that there is no official strategy of the Health Ministry to help people with suicide symptoms.
