Throughout France, Santé Publique France notes a “continuous degradation from autumn 2020” from Mental Health
. This is particularly true in Normandy.
Indicators linked to suicide on the rise in Normandy
At the heart of the pandemic, in 2021, with 221.3 visits to the emergency room, for attempted suicide, per 100,000 inhabitants, Normandy is the second most affected region of France, behind Hauts-de-France and ahead of Brittany. It is in Seine-Maritime, Orne and Manche that the phenomenon is most marked. A situation which is worsening when the region already had in 2019, a rate of emergency visits for suicide attempts higher than the average.
In Normandy, the number of suicidal gestures in the first half of 2022 increases by 33% compared to 2021and the figure in 2021 had already increased by 39% compared to 2020. The same upward trend is observed for suicidal thoughts that lead patients to go to an emergency department.
Young people particularly affected
Young people aged 11 to 24 are the most affected by this increase in suicidal thoughts, gestures and attempts during the health crisis in Normandy. The study notes a sharp increase in emergency room visits from 2020, which continues in 2021 and is even more marked in 2022. Between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021, the report makes the link with the Covid: “The temporality and intensity of these fluctuations are to be linked in particular to the phases of health crisis.” Visits to the emergency room increase when the virus starts again and decrease when sanitary measures are relaxed.
It should be noted that in 2020, suicide attempts increase the most among people aged 65 and over, just like in 2021, with also 11-24 year olds, while over this year, attempts by 25-64 year olds are falling.
“A lasting malaise”
All categories, suicide attempts first dropped in first lockdown in 2020. For scientists, a hypothesis of explanation is that everyone found himself confined to his home, often surrounded by his family, his neighbors. Situation that could “facilitate greater social support as well as a reduction in the stress of everyday life”, indicates the report.
It was in the fall of 2020 that the indicators then climbed sharply without falling again. The trend continues in 2022 as the worst of the health crisis has passed. This is what makes scientists say that there would be “a malaise that appears to be lasting”.
Maintain suicide prevention
The report concludes on the importance of maintain monitoring of these suicide-related indicators especially since other events – one thinks of the war in Ukraine and its consequences – could affect mental health.
Since 2021, and national suicide prevention number
exists: 3114. It is open 7 days a week and 24 hours a day for people who are victims of suicidal thoughts and their loved ones.
On the occasion of the national suicide prevention day this sunday february 5, the Normandy Regional Health Agency presents the various aid systems that exist. Information is available here on his website
.
