Creating Hope Through Action: Tackling Suicide and Mental Health in the Eastern Mediterranean

2023-09-07 09:18:00

Written by Amal Allam, Thursday, September 07, 2023 12:18 PM

Dr. Khaled Saeed, the Regional Counselor for Mental Health at the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, revealed, during a video conference today, on the occasion of the celebration of the International Day for Suicide Prevention 2023, that he raises the slogan “Creating Hope Through Action”, stressing that it is important to start by highlighting the region The Eastern Mediterranean as a diverse region and half of the countries in this region are exposed to emergencies. There are rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, and other countries are among the poorest countries in the world such as Somalia and Afghanistan.

He added, the region is going through rapid changes, and this puts a lot of pressure on population groups, and this means that there are changes in mores, and suicide rates in the eastern Mediterranean are lower in the world and reach 6.4 per 1,000 people, compared to 9 per 1,000 people worldwide, and the eastern region The average is lower than the suicide rates in Southeast Asia and Europe, which are among the highest.

He said that the economic changes and the ongoing crises in the region help in suicide, and the disparities within the same country, there are opportunities available to many and others are quite the opposite, and this region is a young region, and therefore suicide is one of the main causes of death at the age of less than 29 years, as suicide is one of the main causes of death. Suicide decreases after the age of 50, so we can’t attribute suicide to just one cause.

He emphasized that all religions are forbidden suicideAnd that religion has a role in our lives, and it is important that this religious sense provide an opportunity to prevent suicide, as going to the mosque or to the church protects you from suicide, explaining that the rates of psychological crises are high, and there is a rise in the number of mental health injuries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, explaining, that 1 out of every 8 people suffers from a mental health problem worldwide, and the Corona pandemic and wars were two reasons for the spread of mental health problems, and in some countries there have been rapid changes, and some countries are investing in mental health, and there is less attention to mental health at the level of the Eastern Mediterranean region People who need psychiatric care should receive psychiatric care.

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