Suicide Could Be #2 Cause of Death by 2020
The demise of a depressed 31-year-old woman who climbed over the balustrade at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and jumped to her death underscores a growing problem worldwide. The World Health Organization predicts that depression will become the second-leading cause of death by 2020, unless immediate steps are taken to improve treatment and increase awareness, especially in developing nations.
After a 2002 suicide, new barriers and safeguards were put in place to prevent suicide from the tower, built in the 12th century. However, an unnamed source at the landmark in Tuscany noted that those bent on suicide can be very persistent, and safeguards will never be 100 percent effective.
A recent series of six articles in the British medical journal the Lancet focuses on global mental health issues. Worldwide, 154 million people suffer from major depression. Most are untreated, as aid has focused on physical problems in the past. However, the WHO motto “no health without mental health” emphasizes that simple nutrition and basic medical treatment are not enough for those suffering from mental illness.
According to a 2002 WHO survey, many mentally ill persons in developing countries are socially isolated, have poor life quality and increased mortality. The economic results can be devastating. Many mentally ill persons in developing countries are socially isolated, have poor life quality and increased mortality. The economic results can be devastating. Internationally, 25 million people have schizophrenia, while 91 million have alcohol orders and 15 million have drug dependencies. Fifty million people have dementia.
Worldwide, inflation, terrorism, poverty and changing social values contribute to depression, according to researchers at the World Psychiatric Association conference in Lahore. Dr. Haroon Rasheed also noted that loadshedding, the practice of selectively shutting down a portion of the electric grid in developing nations, contributes to depression because it eliminates artificial light or air conditioning in the evening, when individuals are most in need of relaxation after a hard day of work.
According to the World Health Organization, most mentally ill people worldwide receive no treatment and may even be punished or rejected due to their illness. Effective treatments are available in many cases, but patients in developing nations do not have access to mental health care. WHO emphasizes that with basic medication, in many cases these patients could live healthy, productive lives.
Suicide is a common response to testing HIV positive in some developing countries where little or no treatment is available and the disease is essentially a death sentence.
The WHO encourages the wealthiest countries to contribute to global mental health care, as well as resources for physical health.
By Joni Holderman, [email protected], contributing reporter for Mental Health News.