Concern about suicides in Greece: 500 people a year end their lives.

The number of people in Greece is worrying, since at least 2 people each day end their lives. In 2023 the number of suicides showed a decrease, the numbers remain high with the majority being men. Suicide is a major problem of public health and is recognised and treated at European and global level. ELSTAT’s figures for 2021, presented by the Suicide Watch “Climaka” indicate, in general, a stabilisation of deaths compared to 2020. More specifically, the number of officially recorded suicides for 2021 amounted to 467 deaths compared to 2020 recorded 464. In the 2011 – 2021s there were at least 5,500 suicides in our country. The majority of deaths for the year 2021, as for previous years, were men at 83%. It is worth noting that in fact suicides are much more than officially recorded, while there is no evidence of non-lethal attempts and the abundance of self-destructive behaviors noted daily. The figures for Greece in 2022 Unfortunately, 2022 was a very sad year for Greece, as an increase in suicides was recorded, especially for young people. There is an increasing trend in deaths from 2020 to 2022 of nearly 25%. More specifically, the total number of suicides recorded within 2022 reaches 600 deaths corresponding to at least two suicides daily. The signing of suicides is given at global level according to the World Health Organization due to various issues, such as the unevenness in country-by-country registration, the stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness, the particular social and cultural characteristics of each country, as well as the difficulty of establishing the former existence of suicidal intent. More specifically, ELSTAT’s figures in 2022 were as follows: The majority of suicides were men by an overwhelming majority (78%) and followed by women by 22%. Regarding the age group, it was people over 60 who experienced most suicides compared to the other age groups in the population. At gender level, most deaths for men gathered at the ages of 60 – 64, while instead of women, deaths were collected in the young ages of 35 – 39. Increasing trends show the number of suicides in young age in general (age over 20) compared to 2021 figures. At administrative level, the highest number of suicides for 2022 was recorded in Crete (17% of the total number of deaths) and then followed by Central Macedonia. Crete is a region with timeless high suicide rates over a decade. The issue of high suicide in Crete is crucial and has been a field of research for the CLIMAKA Suicide Observatory for years. The most common method of suicide at population level was hanging and the fall and the same – shooting followed. 55% of the deaths occurred at his home self-inflicted Still, within 2022, 18 suicides were recorded at high risk points in the country (suicide hotspots), 11 in detention stores, 7 in public transportation stations, 8 in health units and 3 in the country’s camps. In addition, at least 11 suicides were recorded in high risk professions for suicide, such as security bodies and 3 military suicides. Data for 2023 The data for 2023, as recorded and collected from the CLIMAKA recording network, show a decrease in the number of suicides compared to the data from the Observatory for the year 2022. More specifically, the total number of suicides recorded within 2023 reaches nearly 460 deaths, which corresponds to about two suicides daily. Source: iatropedia.gr