An unidentified man, thought to be a Haitian national, fell from the 5th floor of the Blue Mall in Santo Domingo on Monday, 24 February. He jumped from the mall’s restaurant balcony.
El Dia reported that this death brings the total of suspected suicides so far this year to 101. The Latin American average is five to seven suicides per 100,000 inhabitants, but current figures place the DR suicide rate at eight to nine suicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Countries with higher suicide rates are Cuba and Uruguay with 19 and 26 per 100,000, Colombia with 16 per 100,000 inhabitants and El Salvador with 10 per 100,000.
A total of 567 suicides were reported last year. The most commonly used methods are hanging, gunshot, poisoning and jumping. In the DR, for every female suicide victim there are six males, while the global ratio us one woman for every three men.
Dominican Psychiatry Society former president Jose Miguel Gomez said that the figures were alarming. The 2013 total of 567 suicides was down from 642 in 2011 and 638 in 2012. Gomez called on the Ministry of Public Health to draw up public policies aimed at early diagnosis of depression and mental disorders, and providing access to health, treatment and psychological education in schools.