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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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Cleaning staff will go on indefinite strike at Madrid airport

The AENA-run cleaning service at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport has announced an indefinite strike that will start for night shift employees on April 8th at 11:00 p.m. The state Federation of Services, Mobility, and Consumer Affairs, the UGT, released a statement stating that the step was necessary because of “the need to address the unification of agreements, the repeated breaches of these agreements, and the existing shortage of staff.” They also bemoan “the new cleaning requirements and methods imposed by AENA,” which they say “has generated a situation of constant stress and pressure” for the sanitation staff.

Twenty-nine percent more passengers travelled in 2024 than the year before, totalling 66,196,984. According to FeSMC-UGT, this notable rise implies that cleaning employees must bear a heavy “physical and emotional burden” each day in order to deliver high-quality service. Serveo Facility Management SAU, which operates in Terminals 1, 2, and 3, Serveo Servicios SAU, which operates in Terminal 4, and Optima Facility Services, which operates T-4 Satellite, are the companies that are impacted by the strike.

The striking committee draws attention to sick leave coverage, which is “numerous” across all terminals, in relation to unmet agreements. “We were without a replacement for as long as forty or forty-five days. The firms guaranteed that this issue will be fixed. We had to quadruple the regions that should typically be given because of the extreme wear and tear. According to Fernanda Correira, a committee member who represents the Workers’ Union (USO), “making promises seems very easy, but delivering is not so easy.” In addition, AENA has started surveying passengers about the quality of its services. To make sure the image is as “perfect” as possible, a sizable number of cleaning personnel are sent to the site where one of these surveys is conducted. On the other hand, other terminal components are overlooked.

Committee members have described nighttime as “the most critical time.” For the cleaning staff, the homeless population is a “serious problem” because it has grown from 30 or 40 to around 500 in the past ten years. They must travel two by two in the event of an incident, thus they work in terror. They claim that cleaning their regions takes a lot more time and effort and has an impact on everything else.

In the past, we employees would return home exhausted from the physical strain, but now days, the emotional component is what matters most. From the beginning to the end, we are under pressure to perform. In addition to the businesses, we also voice our displeasure with AENA, their client. Although everyone wants the airport to be clean, nobody appreciates the job we do. Not even the travellers, who occasionally even make fun of us. One of the 700 employees that make up the cleaning services workforce, including temporary workers, states, “We have a huge amount of sick leave for mental health reasons.”

The ASAE union, which has been against AENA for the “out-of-control” situation with regard to the number of homeless persons, says it “supports the strike due to AENA’s continued financial cuts in contracts.” “We completely understand that they want to work in decent and safe environments and not have to endure insults, threats, and attacks from the 500 people living in poverty at Barajas Airport, another reason for the protest,” they say. The striking employees “regret in advance any deep inconvenience this situation may cause to airport users.”

In the meantime, attempts to address the homeless disagreement between Madrid City Council and infrastructure administrators have not been successful. Both parties have remained silent during the “high tension” moments, expressing their profound care about the matter while frequently ignoring their obligations. The trend has not improved at all, and it may possibly worsen in the upcoming months due to the absence of alternative housing for these individuals, even if winter and the unfavourable weather are ending.

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Alicante is now part of TUI’s city break package

With the addition of Alicante and Salzburg to its portfolio of city breaks, TUI UK&I has given its customers even more options when it comes to vacation planning.

There are currently 57 city breaks available for tourists looking for quick vacations thanks to TUI’s quick expansion of its city break packages, which has seen the addition of six more cities since January.

Travellers can enjoy a combination of leisurely beach days and exploring the city of Alicante, which is teeming with amazing architecture from the Mediaeval to the Modernist periods. There are lots of local bars to check out along the waterfront, and it’s easy to go from the beach to the bustling city centre.

Salzburg is a vibrant city with a wealth of museums, culture, stunning mountain views, and architecture that transports you to a Renaissance painting. Salzburg has a lot to offer tourists of all stripes, including a large number of local taverns, beer, and traditional food vendors.

And since Salzburg is the birthplace of the Sound of Music, there’s no better way to commemorate the movie’s 60th anniversary than to take a trip there and experience the beloved 1959 musical.

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Family rescued from house fire in Villajoyosa

Yesterday afternoon, Monday 31st March, a fire started on the bottom floor of a house near the railway bridge in Villajoyosa, forcing a family to evacuate. However, no one there needed medical care, according to municipal sources.

The local police, the Guardia Civil, firefighters from the Provincial Consortium attached to the Benidorm fire station, and an ambulance—which was eventually unnecessary—were among the emergency services sent to the scene.

Throughout the late afternoon, a large portion of the town could see the smoke column, which was coming from the Costes district.