Rising numbers of suicides doctors usually overwhelmed

Rising Suicide Numbers: Many doctors are overwhelmed

03/15/2015

Every year around 10,000 people in Germany take their own lives. The number of suicides in this country has been rising for several years. According to experts, physicians are overwhelmed with the topic and not sufficiently trained in dealing with vulnerable patients.

Doctors are not sufficiently trained
Whether because of illness, pain or loneliness: The number of suicides in Germany has been rising for several years. According to a message from the news agency dpa doctors are in the opinion of the German Society for Suicide Prevention (DGS) not sufficiently trained in dealing with suicidal patients. For example, the Dresden psychiatrist Ute Lewitzka criticized on Friday at the DGS spring meeting in the Swabian town of Günzburg that the treatment of mental illness in medical school is too short. „They learn to save lives, but not as a human ages healthy“, so Lewitzka.

Number of suicides has been rising for years
In addition, psychotherapists and employees in the elderly were better trained. Since the 1980s, the number of suicides in Germany has declined, but has been rising again for several years. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were around 10,000 suicides in 2013, and more than 100,000 people committed the attempt. According to information, in 2013, for example, 13.7 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants were counted in Bavaria, and 12.8 in Baden-Württemberg (German average: 12.5). The danger increases continuously with age. The Stuttgart psychiatrist Elmar Etzersdorfer said: „That justifies concern.“

More deaths from suicide than traffic accidents
Last year, the DGS made a comparison and said that in Germany about as many people die from suicide as from traffic accidents, AIDS, illegal drugs and violence. According to experts, severe psychological problems such as depression, in many cases triggered or accompanied by excessive alcohol consumption or drug abuse, are the trigger for the desire to die. In addition, causes such as professional and / or financial problems, serious illnesses or unbearable, chronic pain would be added.

Assistance to suicide is strictly rejected
However, the discussed aid to suicide at the DGS meets with strict rejection. Etzersdorfer commented on the current euthanasia debate: „This creates a mood: when they are old, when they are ill, they kill themselves. This goes up to a social pressure.“ The Bundestag wants to reschedule euthanasia in Germany later this year. In Parliament, in a policy debate in November, there were different views on whether a person who is suffering from a dying ailment can be helped to commit suicide. DGS Chair Barbara Schneider criticized: „As a result, consulting options are being pushed into the background.“

Strengthening preventative advice
In addition, the businesslike, commercial and organized aid to suicide must be excluded and preventive counseling and care, for example, by doctors to be strengthened. „A protected space between doctor and patient must be present in order to freely discuss suicidal thoughts“, so tailor. According to DGS, participation in self-immolation is not a medical task. „Before any aid to suicide, help must be given to those who are suicidal. There are a lot of possibilities that are not yet exploited“, explained the Hamburg psychologist Reinhard Lindner. Among other things, the DGS advocates for psychotherapeutic discussion offers and the treatment with drugs. As the World Health Organization (WHO) last year, the first „World Suicide Report“ WHO Director-General Margaret Chan urged states to invest more money in prevention measures. (Ad)