BAGUIO CITY – The city government is concerned over the significant increase in suicide cases in the first semester of this year due to the serious negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the mental health of the people here.

City Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO) Betty Fangasan reported that from January to present, 19 documented suicide incidents were recorded, compared to the 24 cases during 2020.

Fangasan said 16 of these cases involved males. She said majority of the cases were aged 20 to 30-years-old and that the causes of the suicide cases as per their investigation were alleged stressful life, mental health issues or disorders, and family and financial problems, among others, that resulted into depression.

She pointed out that psychological first aid had been conducted by the office to the bereaved families of the suicide victims to initiate the appropriate healing process and ease their emotional and psychological trauma and to prevent the contagion effect of such tragic and traumatic incidents.

Fangasan said psychological first aid was conducted by the CSWDO in close collaboration with the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) and City Health Services Office (CHSO) which have the expertise in the conduct of such interventions for the survivor family members.

She clarified that the reported suicide cases were documented based on the incidents reported to the concerned authorities and it is important for family members to report such incidents to the concerned agencies and local governments so that appropriate interventions could be done to the family members who were left behind to reduce their trauma created by the incident.

Fangasan urged residents who witness the unusual behavior of their family members or neighbors to immediately seek the assistance of concerned authorities to ensure that appropriate assistance or interventions could be provided to these persons to prevent their situation from worsening that could eventually lead to suicide.