Macau recorded 21 suicides – 10 males and 11 females – in the third quarter of this year, six more than in the same quarter of 2023, according to a statement by the Health Bureau (SSM) yesterday.
The statement noted that among the 21 victims, aged between 20 and 75, 16 were local residents, accounting for 76.2 percent, while five were non-local residents, accounting for 23.8 percent.
The statement pointed out that mental diseases, gambling issues and financial problems were the most probable causes of the suicides.
The bureau underlined that the factors contributing to suicide are complex and often involve mental illness, psychological, socio-economic, familial, interpersonal and biogenetic reasons, the statement said.
Therefore, members of the public can visit https://www.ssm.gov.mo/apps1/mentalhealth/ch.aspx#clg28356 for mental health information, which has been set up by the bureau to tackle the public’s misunderstandings and prejudice concerning mental illness, enhance the public’s understanding of mental health, raise the willingness of people in need to seek professional support, and promote the overall mental health of Macau residents, the statement said.
In order to help reduce the incidence of suicide, the bureau urged members of the public to contact, communicate and care more about people around them in their daily lives, and encourage people suffering from emotional distress to actively seek professional assistance, the statement said.
The bureau said that its psychology clinics in Tap Seac, Fai Chi Kei, Areia Preta, Ocean Gardens, Our Lady of Carmo-Lago, Coloane’s Seac Pai Van and on Rua da Praia do Manduco are open to the public without referral from the city’s hospitals. It also urged all those beset by anxiety or despair to phone Macau Caritas’s Life Hope Hotline on 2852 5222 for Cantonese and 2852 5777 for English speakers.
This poster from the Caritas Macau website shows its Expat Life Hope Hotline 2852 5777 for Macau’s non-Chinese speaking communities.
