The police registered 116 suicides last year, which, as announced by the Police Administration, reinforces the worrying balance of suicides in Montenegro.
"In fact, 2022 suicides were registered in 126, 2021 suicides in 111, 2020 suicides in 109, and 2019 suicides in 100. In just the previous five years, 562 people took their own lives in Montenegro," it was announced from of the police.
They add that from a broader perspective, Montenegro is a country that, even according to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), leads in the last decade in terms of the number of registered suicides in relation to the number of inhabitants.
"The causes or triggers are different, but mostly it is about serious health conditions, socio-economic problems, traumatic experiences, unsettled family relationships, etc. Although at first glance every suicide looks like a personal act, destroying one's own life, the person who takes it life calls into question the fundamental value of society - human life that is not compensable, which makes this phenomenon a serious social problem, especially considering the scale it takes in Montenegrin society," the announcement reads.
The police announced that in cases of suicide, they can only record statistics because it is a fait accompli, i.e., it usually reacts as a result of taking investigative and other procedural actions, with the participation of medical experts, who determine the manner and cause of the death.
"Unfortunately, Montenegro does not have a national strategy for the fight against suicide, nor a national body that would take synchronized steps in the fight against the causes of suicide. These figures warn that the individual efforts of authorities from different jurisdictions (Police Administration, Center for Social Work, medical services, etc. .) cannot influence the key - the prevention of possible causes of suicide. In this sense, the Police Administration calls on all actors, and primarily decision makers at the highest state level, to recognize this phenomenon in order to, through multisectoral cooperation and through developed inclusion, with the participation of all experts services, the non-governmental and media sector, as well as the wider community, with special attention approached addressing this social problem, which we can now only state and inform the public through these alarming figures," the announcement concludes.
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