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Experts say it’s crucial to “gain time,” since suicide is hesitant until the very end

It is crucial to “gain time” so that a person with suicidal tendencies might think of other options since they are “ambivalent” right up until the very last minute, questioning whether to carry out the deed and even regretting it.

During the panel discussion “Suicide prevention is possible” at the EFE Forum “New challenges in mental health after the Dana,” which was organised by the EFE Agency in partnership with Johnson & Johnson and 8 Mediterráneo, psychiatrists Jesús Enrique Mesones and Eduardo Jesús Aguilar brought attention to this.

Experts estimate that there is one suicide fatality for every thirty attempts, but that “contagion effect” can be avoided with adequate and constructive communication: “More than saving lives, we actually help people save their lives.”

“Just by listening to people who have these kinds of problems we can do a lot from our consultations, carry out an intervention without being a super specialist,” said Mesones, vice president of the Spanish Society of Suicidology, professor at the Catholic University of Murcia, and head of the Psychiatry Service at Torrevieja Hospital.

He says that although most suicide victims “want to stop suffering, very few do so consciously and behind every suicide there is usually a mental pathology,” half of suicides are caused by depression.

The impacted individuals also visit their primary care physician. According to Eduardo Jesús Aguilar, a psychiatrist at the Hospital Clínico de Valencia, a professor at the University of Valencia, and a researcher at Cibersam and Incliva, primary care physicians are responsible for obtaining “sufficient information to be able to make the first entry” during those ten minutes of patient care.

According to Mesones, the individual who kills themselves “is ambivalent until the last moment,” citing instances where those who attempt suicide by jumping off a bridge express regret at the last minute. According to him, “at the time of the acute intervention, the essential thing is to gain time so that they can consider other ways out.”

Additionally, Aguilar thinks it’s critical to recognise that suicide behaviour “is characteristically fluctuating, even though it’s chronic,” and that in the ER, “they know that if they give enough time there is an upswing and a downswing.”

Mesones claims that a suicidal person who has attempted suicide and is in the emergency room has the chance to receive treatment during a waiting period known as “chronotherapy”: “We have the opportunity to be able to address them and we must have the capacity, training and sufficient education to assist them.”

Lithium salts for bipolar disorder patients, clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic for schizophrenia patients, and esketamine for depression patients are the only treatments that have been demonstrated to help prevent suicidal behaviour, according to Mesones. “A study conducted in several Spanish centres reflects the effectiveness of this drug in improving suicidal thoughts, which is very promising,” Mesones said.

A loss, a breakup, an existential crisis, abuse, or mistreatment are some of the things that could hasten this decision, according to Mesones. He explains that while many situations can lead someone to “think that the help they are going to receive is not worth it,” “fortunately not all people who think about suicide do so, the rate is 2%.”

Aguilar says that we need to observe how it changes “and that the rates for women do not rise, but that for men they fall,” in addition to the fact that we have tools to prevent and treat suicide because of the innovation of companies like those sponsoring this event. He says that 70% of suicides are men and 30% are women, for which there may be a variety of reasons.

Disasters like the Dana disaster, which create a sense of “unity” and the impulse to aid others, “protect at first” those who are contemplating suicide, according to the vice president of the Spanish Society of Suicidology.

“It has made many people abandon that idea and start helping families, but that is my perception, there will be no data on that,” says Mesones, who further states that “in the future, if mental illness increases, it will lead to suicides.” EFE

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Related Topics:Abuse Emergency Health Hospital Murcia People Torrevieja University Valencia

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Alicante to Seville daily with new Ryanair schedule

During the summer of 2025, Ryanair will run daily flights between Alicante and Seville.

The company plans to connect the two cities on a daily basis from today, March 27th, until October 25th. This year, the connection is strengthened with a flight every weekday, in contrast to the 2024 summer season when the route ran six days a week (with double frequency on Sundays and no flights on Wednesdays). Additionally, Ryanair plans to launch eight weekly flights in April 2025, with the addition of a second daily frequency on Saturdays.

Reaching 125,581 passengers in 2024, the link with Seville, the capital of Andalusia and Spain’s fourth most populous city, saw stratospheric growth. Compared to 2023, when the route carried 58,361 people between the two cities, this number marked a 115% increase.

A potential increase of frequency on the Alicante-Elche and Seville route has not been ruled out, and Ryanair will soon release its 2025–2026 winter schedule. Given the ongoing increase in demand on this route, the Irish airline may be planning to improve connection, as it ran five weekly flights during the previous winter season.

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Benidorm could start fining illegal tourist properties by Easter

Since the formal transfer of authority is anticipated to take place next week, Benidorm may start immediately fining unlawful tourist accommodations as early as Easter. Marián Cano, the Regional Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, made this announcement as an indication of the advancements made in working with local councils to keep an eye on the tourism industry’s underground economy. The city councils of Alicante, Castellón, Elche, Torrevieja, and Benicarló are among the other municipalities that have stated their intention to take on this responsibility. This progress has already been formalised in Valencia, where the transfer of powers has been completed and all the procedures are prepared for approval next week in Benidorm.

In her response to a parliamentary question, the Nuciera councillor discussed the issue in Les Corts and stressed that the new tourism inspection plan “is not a continuation of the previous one, but rather an improvement that introduces more effective measures, strengthens institutional collaboration, and better responds to the needs of the sector.” She stressed cooperation with local governments in this regard in order to provide “more effective inspections and a swift response to irregularities.”

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Twenty kilos of cocaine found in a van near Alicante, leading to ten arrests

After discovering a 20-kilogram cocaine hoard in Alicante concealed within an industrial machine being carried in a van, the National Police have disbanded a drug trafficking organisation that was active in the region. A firearm, over three kilogrammes of cocaine, almost 100 marijuana plants, and 50 bottles made with valves and chemicals used to make the powerful drug “BHO” (an acronym for “butane hash oil”), a concentrated cannabis oil that achieves 80% THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, were all seized as part of the operation, which also led to the arrest of ten individuals in Alicante, San Vicente, and Torrellano.

If sold by the gramme, the 20 kilogrammes of cocaine would have brought in €1.2 million, and if sold by the kilogramme, €610,000. The black market value of the 3.2 kg of hashish that was found at one of the residences is €22,054 per gramme.

The Alicante Judicial Police’s UDYCO (Underground Drug Enforcement Unit) Narcotics Unit has started looking into a Torrellano resident who might be involved in drug trafficking with his son, who resides at a different Alicante address.

In order to identify everyone in the gang, the agents conducted a number of surveillance operations. They discovered that the group travelled and transported the drugs to other provinces using a number of cars, some of which were rented.

To escape suspicion, the suspects also switched cars, but the National Police were still able to verify their suspicions. In one of the monitored residences, they found a steady stream of individuals, some with criminal histories and others who came and went quickly after purchasing their medication for their own use.

Police saw a man riding a motorbike quickly out of one of the homes during one of the surveillance missions. When he was stopped and searched, it was discovered that he had 2,500 euros in cash on him. The inmates shared a van with another suspect, which was used to transport electrical equipment that might be utilised in marijuana growth facilities and to transport drugs to other provinces.

The National Police stopped the vehicle in the Alicante neighbourhood of El Moralet in early March, resulting in the seizure of the 20 kilogrammes of cocaine. An industrial heel-polishing equipment contained the medicines. A revolver with ammunition and rifle cartridges, 40 grammes of cocaine that was ready for distribution, 73 hashish acorns, over three kilogrammes of hashish tablets, some speed, and 81 marijuana plants were among the items found during searches conducted at homes in Alicante, Torrellano, and San Vicente del Raspeig after this seizure.

Additionally, 50 bottles of chopped marijuana that had been prepared with entry holes so that this cannabis concentrate could be made using gas and 54 grammes of BHO were confiscated by the police. A potent medication containing up to 80% THC is produced by this procedure.

After appearing in court, three of the arrested were placed in jail, while the others were freed on bond. Six of the ten inmates already had criminal histories, and the father, who has been the subject of an investigation since the beginning, together with his son, is one of those involved.

Experts from the Alicante Provincial Scientific Police Brigade will examine the revolver that was found after one of the searches because it does not have a serial number.