Suicides In Puerto Rico Increase Due To Maria

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Suicides in Puerto Rico have skyrocketed one year after Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean. This is what experts say in the week in which the cyclone scourge that killed thousands of people and whose number is still debated in Washington is remembered.

"We are observing serious suicide and domestic violence problems and that was not so common before [the storm]," said Sonia Santiago, a psychologist affiliated with the University of San Juan to the Miami Herald newspaper.

According to this source, in 2017 the island registered 254 suicides, an increase of 28 percent compared to 2016. And 2018 does not look better: until July, 137 deaths of this nature had been registered.

According to this expert, there is a mental health crisis on the island that was already affecting residents, especially due to the economic crisis that has been experienced for a couple of years there. However, experts point out that the destruction that María left has accelerated the trend since the diagnosis and treatment of these problems is not within everyone's reach.

"People are focused on their most immediate needs," says Santiago. "People are more concerned about being able to eat than going to the psychologist." According to studies, 43.5 percent of the island lives below the national poverty median.

According to the Mental Health Services Administration, calls to the Suicide Helpline (PAS) have exceeded 16,000 calls in one month and suicides have exceeded three digits.

Conditions such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic syndrome have increased since the storm hit.

However, government sources have denied that the suicidal tendencies have been exacerbated by the storm. According to Suzanne Roig Fuentes, director of the Puerto Rico Mental Health and Addiction Services Administration, the number of suicides stands at 8 out of every 1,000 people, which is less than the national average of 13.5 percent, she says.

What is more: the official affirms that the weeks after María's passage received approximately 800 calls a day to the PAS, but that now 'only' they are approximately 500 per day.