READER’S EDITORIAL: LIVES LOST AMID PANDEMIC AREN’T ALL DUE TO COVID-19: SUICIDES RISE DURING QUARANTINE
By Bettie Wells
Photo: Creative Commons by S.A. via Bing
May 10, 2020 (El Cajon) -- I am a mental health care professional. I have worked in the field in many arenas for 25 years. I have worked mainly in trauma-not something I picked for myself, it just worked out that way. I thought I had seen it all in my career until about three weeks ago...Suicide.
As a therapist, I hear about suicide fairly often. It's an important question in a psycho-social interview. I have helped countless people work through their suicidal ideation. It's safe to say that I am not flustered by my clients needing to work though such a dark time in their lives. This last three weeks though, I have been hearing about someone suiciding on average about three times a day now.
Think about that--on average three times a day, I hear about someone killing themselves. In my 25 years working in this field, I have never once experienced this much suicide happening all at once.
I believe this quarantine is beginning to cause much more harm than good. People are not wired to be alone for significant periods of time. People need to connect, need to be with others. People need to be empowered to live their lives as they see fit.
I believe, next year when we get the numbers from this year, it will show a devastating rise in suicides due to this quarantine and how this COVID-19 crisis was mishandled- at least in California. People are not equipped to quarantine for this long.
We can all help prevent suicide. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, as well as prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones; call 1-800-273-8255. San Diego County also offers a crisis hotline 24/7 at 888-724-7240.
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The views in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.