Lebanon: Suicide Desperation Calls up 400% from 2019
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Embrace, Lebanon's suicide prevention hotline, has reported that they receive an average of 25 phone calls a day, up 400% from 2019.
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Crisis after crisis, Embrace reports that 1 in 20 Lebanese have contemplated suicide at least once
From a blast which left over 200 dead, to political turmoil, to a crippling economic crisis - Lebanon's suicide prevention hotline, Embrace, has reported a sharp increase in calls of desperation over the past three years.
On their personal account, Embrace tweeted alarming statistics on the increasing numbers of phone calls the hotline receives on a daily basis, on their widespreadly-billboarded number: 1564.
5 calls/day on average in 2019
— Embrace (@embrace_lebanon) November 8, 2021
16 calls/day on average in 2020
25 calls/day on average in 2021
The Lifeline calls are increasing every year reflecting the many hardships Lebanon is facing.
Our team is always to support you on The Lifeline 1564 in collaboration with @NMHPLebanon pic.twitter.com/ntUNIv6dRj
From an average of 5 calls a day in 2019 - the year when the Lebanese protests and political turmoil was on the rise - the average number increased greatly to 25 calls a day, marking a 400% increase in calls of suicidal desperation.
This amounted to 7,498 calls in 2021 in total (it was 2,000 calls in 2019), which is a reflection of the alarming effects of the political and economic situation on the Lebanese. Despite that the Lebanese currency lost 90% of its value since 2019, not to mention the repercussions of Beirut Blast in which thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated in 2020, not much is being done to ameliorate mental health.
According to the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), a psychological research center in Lebanon, it was reported recently that 1 in 20 people have contemplated suicide at least once, and 1 in 50 have actually attempted it.
We conducted a study on suicide in Lebanon and here are some of the findings.
— IDRAAC (@IDRAAC) September 14, 2021
Mental disorders are strong predictors of suicidal behavior and are treatable so suicide is preventable!#SuicidePreventionMonth #suicide pic.twitter.com/A6CGOfOmVt
