After Palestinian Muhammad al-Najjar wrote a post on his Facebook page saying, “I am forced to leave this world after I have exhausted all my efforts and attempts to recover from depression over the course of eight years, the last of which was electricity sessions.” He grabbed a grenade and blew himself up.
The news of al-Najjar’s suicide sparked a wide wave of indignation among the residents of Gaza, especially that the young man was educated, and had poetry publications and cultural and political contributions, but they cursed the conditions that made young people suffer from severe depression that pushes suicide, and at the same time the security services began to open investigations to search for the circumstances of these incidents .
Two cases in a day
Before dawn last Saturday, Gaza recorded three suicide attempts, two of which died and another was saved. Since the beginning of this year, the Independent Commission for Human Rights (an official institution) has monitored 23 deaths in mysterious circumstances, but indicated that not all of them are necessarily suicides, and the month of May was the highest recorded 10 cases.
In light of these numbers, human rights organizations deplored the escalation of suicide or attempted suicide, and its transformation into a phenomenon, not just individual attempts, and considered this an indicator of concern that requires government agencies to resolve the factors that helped create the environment for the increase in such cases.
Social workers attribute the causes of suicide in Gaza to the compelling economic conditions, including food insecurity and widespread poverty, as was the case two weeks ago, with a young man in his thirties who accumulated debts and committed suicide.
However, these reasons are not the only motives for suicide, but other anxiety-related factors emerged related to mental health. According to the tracking of the most prominent suicide cases that were echoed in Gaza, it was found that most of them were enjoying job stability, including a lawyer, an accountant, and a municipal employee.
increasing cases
The new motives for suicide in Gaza are due to the spread of acute depression and some other mental illnesses among the population, and this matter calls for a real pause from officials for psychiatry to take its place in light of the fragility of psychological life inside the Strip due to the successive fighting operations and the siege, according to observers.
However, the authorities in Gaza deny that suicide has become a phenomenon, and consider it to be individual cases, each with its own specificity. Yahya Moussa, a member of the Legislative Council, said earlier that suicides in the Strip are one of the most important repercussions of the blockade, without denying that they are constantly increasing.
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According to the records of suicide attempts, according to the data of the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian government, in 2022, 25 suicides were recorded, while 553 others attempted to end their lives. In 2021, there were about 22 deaths, and each actual suicide case corresponded to about 21 suicide attempts. And in 2020, 17 cases out of 404 were recorded, and most suicide attempts were among young people.
In light of the official institutions’ denial of the phenomenon of suicide, the official of the International Commission for the Support of the Rights of the Palestinian People, Salah Abdel Ati, confirmed that taking life is a phenomenon, and government agencies are absent and denying it, explaining that they did not see any serious measures that show paying attention to the issues and problems of youth and society. “Poverty and unemployment indicators are still high, and taxation policies have increased from government agencies in the sector,” he said. “There is a rise in prices, a lack of social protection policies, and a low level of services, especially mental health services.”
‘Terrifying’ mental health numbers
In any case, all indications indicate that mental illness is the main cause of suicide in Gaza. The latest report of the Council on International Relations confirmed the increase in attempts to kill oneself in the Gaza Strip due to psychological pressures. He pointed out that 61 percent of Gaza’s children suffer from psychological disorders such as fear and anxiety, which warns of an increase in suicide cases in adolescence.
The results of the World Bank survey showed that 71 percent of Gazans suffer from depression, seven percent suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the rest of society is exposed to common mental health disorders that are directly related to extreme poverty.
The World Health Organization documented more than 210,000 cases of mental disorders in Gaza, and stated that there is a person out of every 10 in need of rapid psychological treatment, and the Ministry of Health in Gaza published a report stating that mental illnesses increased by 62 percent, depression had the largest share of prevalence, followed by mental disorders, then schizophrenia.
In light of these high numbers, there is a single mental health hospital in Gaza with a capacity of 50 beds distributed among the departments for men, women and children, to serve 2.3 million citizens. It employs 39 medical staff, including 26 psychologists, and receives about 90,000 visits and reviews annually.
Suicidal thoughts persist
“Because of depression, a person thinks of suicide, and most of those affected by it begin to think of getting rid of negative feelings through suicide, but implementing this is an advanced step, and it is possible to fail and return to life with the help of others,” says psychologist Derdah Al-Shaer, a specialist in psychology.
Al-Shaer confirms that depression represents a very large percentage of psychological and mental disorders in Gaza, because the psychological ground on which the individual moves is not comfortable and reinforces the factors of this disease, including poverty, lack of food, lack of job opportunities, and scarcity of travel. He added, “Those who go to psychiatric hospitals are the ones who suffer from depression in severe cases, but many of those who live among us and feel depressed think day and night of suicide, and if they do not find help, they will take this step, because the depressed will carry out what he plans, and will not keep the matter as a mere one.” an idea”.
2023-08-22 10:50:20
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