More than 40,000 suicides result in death and more than 30 times more suicide attempts occur in the country annually.

The deputy head of social affairs at the Welfare Organization reported that about 41,000 people die annually due to suicide in the country. He also said that the number of attempted suicides, without citing exact figures, is 30 times the number of suicides that result in death.

According to HRANA news agency, quoting Hamshahri, the deputy director of social affairs of the Welfare Organization announced that about 41,000 people die annually due to suicide attempts in the country.

He said while announcing the news: "An important debate about suicide is the difference between attempted suicide and suicide that results in death. Many people may end up in the hospital due to attempted suicide. Those who wanted to commit suicide also called the social emergency service, or, for example, those who committed suicide go to a clinic, which is not recorded at all."

In response to the question of whether the suicide rate has not increased in the context of the pandemic and the economic situation, Masoudi Farid stated: "There is no significant increase in our statistics. The statistics should be obtained from the forensic medicine, but I think the suicide death rate in our country is 41,000 people per year. The number of 41,000 people was recorded in 2019 or 2020."

He added: "Usually, if you multiply the number of suicides that result in death by 30, you get the total number of suicide attempts. The point is that suicide is like a pyramid. The bottom of this pyramid belongs to economic problems, mental disorders, etc. The upper level is suicidal thoughts. The next level is the damaging figures, and above that, committing suicide leads to death. The important thing is to address the issue of mental health and economic and social issues."

The deputy head of social affairs at the Welfare Organization stated that many provinces do not like their names being mentioned in suicide statistics and continued: “Basically, the suicide rate is higher in metropolitan cities. Such as Tehran, Fars, Khorasan Razavi, etc. These harms are greater due to the large population and the type of culture, but there is also a possibility of harms in small cities.”

He further emphasized: "As a rule, the measures taken to prevent suicide in a province like Ilam should be higher than in other provinces. Because the suicide rate in this small province is high."

Source: HRANA