Five people on average commit suicide every day in Belgium
To help people in distress, the non-profit organization will provide an “alert us” button on its website from September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day. The ASBL has analyzed the latest figures available and published by the Sciensano Public Health Institute. Thus, in 2019, no less than 1,728 suicides were recorded in Belgium, an average of five deaths per day. There were 646 suicides in Wallonia, 954 in Flanders and 128 in Brussels. Among them, 1,265 concerned men and 463 women.
“It should be noted that validated scientific data for the years linked to the pandemic (2020 and 2021) are not yet available. However, we are seeing a 24% increase in psychological consultations linked to the theme of suicide within our non-profit association,” underlines Thomas Thirion, managing director of ‘Un passe dans l’impasse’.
In order to best prevent these dramatic outcomes, the ASBL has decided to set up an “alert us” button on its website from September 10, the date of World Suicide Prevention Day. ‘Un passe en l’impasse’ specifies, however, that the alert can only be given with the consent of the person deemed to be in distress.
“The form for launching an alert is only accessible if this data is confirmed beforehand. After this validation, the sentry must simply complete the contact details of the person in distress and his own. He must then send the form so that he can be treated as ‘A dead end pass’.”
A sentinel is any voluntary person, who is not a health professional, trained by ‘Un passe en l’impasse’ to detect a person in suicidal distress and to prevent an alert.