About three people are admitted to hospital every day after harming themselves and psychiatrist Anton Grech insists such cases must be taken seriously as they could lead to death.

Research showed that one per cent of those who deliberately self-harmed – also known as parasuicide – died by the following year, most probably from another episode of self-harm that went wrong, Dr Grech said.

People, usually women, self-harm to draw attention.

With an average of three such cases being seen daily at hospital, which adds up to a 100 in a month, there could be 12 fatal attempts the following year. At times, as many as five cases were admitted in a day.

Dr Grech, psychiatry chairman at Mount Carmel Hospital, was contacted after Times of Malta reported that about 26 people committed suicide every year in the past five years, with the highest number of victims – 120 of 131– being male, reflecting a gender gap common in other countries.

Dr Grech noted that suicide attempts were more common among men because they were more prone to use violent means. There was also a misconception that if men admitted they were depressed, they would be considered weak.

“It’s important to emphasise that depression is an illness that can affect anyone. There have even been highly successful people who suffered from depression and whose life went on when they overcame it.

“Since men tend to find it psychologically harder to express emotions, they might show physical symptoms of depression, like back pain and constipation.

“Depression is an illness of the brain and the nervous system, which affects the whole body and is quite common.

The main preventative measure for suicide is curing depression

“In fact, 40 per cent of physical symptoms GPs see are generally related to depression,” Dr Grech added.

Depression is common and, at any one point in time, five per cent of the population suffers from severe depression, which is when a person is not capable of fulfilling his/her role at home or work. Everyone has a 17 per cent chance of suffering from severe depression at least once in their lives.

“The main preventive measure for suicide is curing depression by accepting it as a mental illness and decreasing the stigma so that people find it less discouraging to seek treatment,” said Dr Grech.

Although committing suicide might be a rational decision following, for example, the collapse of the financial market, the most common cause was mental illness, including schizophrenia and long-term alcoholic problems.

Depression was the most common mental illness that led to suicide. The thinking process of a depressed person became negative and they felt helpless and hopeless, sometimes even a burden on their relatives.

“This type of depression usually takes months to develop but, at times, the illness can creep up on a person suddenly following a major life event like losing a spouse.

A study carried out in the 1980s on the Swedish Gotland island, where a campaign was run to educate doctors and the public about depression, showed that the rate of suicide in the following years decreased significantly.

“Relatives need to start believing that depression exists. A lot of times people think that someone going through depression needs to pull their socks up when, in fact, it’s an illness just like any other,” said Dr Grech. “The tragedy is not the stigma about mental illness but the fact that it does not encourage people to seek treatment, with the possible fatal consequence of suicide.

“Suicide in depression is most common in the initial stages of the illness when people have not sought treatment. Treatment definitely prevents suicide.”

Phone support

Aġenzija Appoġġ offers emotional help through its round-the-clock supportline 179 on various issues, including suicide, both to people contemplating suicide and to relatives, especially after a loss. The service is operated by trained volunteers backed by professionals.

Callers can remain anonymous unless they require further help and need to be referred to appropriate services.

Since the supportline is confidential and calls cannot be traced, the receiver engages the caller and builds an element of trust which, in crisis situations, could save a life.

An Appoġġ spokesman said the statistical rate of incoming genuine phone calls related to suicide was “very minimal” compared to other distress calls.

For more details, visit www.appogg.gov.mt.