Macau recorded 26 suicides – 20 males and 6 females – in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a statement by the Health Bureau (SSM) yesterday.
The statement noted that among the 26 victims, aged between 20 and 85, 21 were local residents, accounting for 80 percent, while five were non-local residents.
The statement pointed out that chronic, physical and mental diseases, gambling issues and financial problems were the most probable causes of the suicides.
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 address the public’s misunderstandings and prejudice concerning mental illness, enhance the public’s understanding of mental health, raise the willingness of people in need of seeking professional support, and promote the overall mental health of Macau residents.
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 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 – 2852 5222 for Cantonese and 2852 5777 for English speakers.
This poster downloaded from the Macau Caritas official website yesterday shows its Expat Life Hope Hotline.
