One Ukrainian dies by suicide almost every hour, bringing the yearly total to almost 7,000 deaths, according to World Population Review.
These gloomy statistics put the country in eighth place globally by suicide rate. While Ukraine’s suicide rates are some of the highest in the world, the subject still remains almost entirely undiscussed, while those struggling with suicide have difficulty finding the proper support.
“It’s a national tragedy,” says Paul Niland, the head of the Lifeline Ukraine suicide prevention hotline.
Despite the urgency of the issue, Ukraine has no strategy for national suicide prevention, while all the activities aimed to raise awareness and provide help are largely carried out by civil society.
Globally, 800,000 people take their own lives every year, according to the World Health Organization.
To draw attention to the growing problem, the WHO co-sponsors World Suicide Prevention Day, organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention every year on Sept. 10.
Dark picture
According to the WHO, for each adult that died by suicide, there might have been more than 20 attempts to cause death by self-harm. That might mean that roughly 140,000 Ukrainians try to take their own lives each year.
There is a vivid gender difference in numbers, with about 80% of all suicides by men. The gap might be connected to the growing number of veterans returning from Russia’s war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and struggling to adapt to civilian life.
However, the WHO says that suicidal behavior indicates deep unhappiness, but not necessarily mental disorder.
“Self-harm is a complex behavioral phenomenon with many underlying risk factors spanning individual, communal and societal domains,” the WHO writes.
Although no research has been conducted to learn the causes of such a high suicide rate in Ukraine, it might be a result of the low mental health education of the public.
Psychotherapy and even psychological help are surrounded by stigma in Ukraine — a common perception the country inherited from the Soviet Union and did little to change during 29 years of independence.
Read also: Mental health remains unspoken in Ukraine
Because of stigma, few Ukrainians seek professional help for depression. For the same reasons, some might also feel scared to talk to close friends and family.
In a country where mental health professionals are largely avoided, the task of detecting suicidal behavior falls on the shoulders of general health practitioners.
However, according to the WHO, Ukraine’s doctors and health professionals at the primary care level often lack qualifications and overlook tell-tale signs in their patients.
Vulnerable groups
Even though people of all genders, ages and socioeconomic status can have suicidal thoughts, some groups are at higher risk.
Lifeline Ukraine, whose launch was initiated by the previous government’s health ministry and initially financed by the British Embassy, has received over 5,000 calls since it opened its lines almost a year ago.
Niland, who runs the non-profit, says that they get calls from all population groups, from teenagers to people over 90. They often experience extreme loneliness and struggle to find the motivation to go through another day, he says.
A large volume of calls comes from Ukrainian war veterans and their family members. One of the calls they received came from a child of a veteran asking why his dad isn’t playing with him the way he used to before the war, Niland says.
The organization is prepared to support veterans and their families, Niland says. Lifeline Ukraine uses the peer-to-peer principle: Having hired veterans to answer calls, the non-profit allows other veterans to talk to someone who has a shared experience, rather than to a specialist who the caller often thinks will not understand them.
Niland says that witnessing the horrors of war and especially taking someone else’s life is beyond the normal experience of a person.
“It’s life-changing,” he says. “A psychological burden.”
Apart from the mental struggle, veterans might have the actual means to end their lives, as some of them bring weapons from the war back home, Niland says.
Besides Lifeline Ukraine, a number of local non-profits offer legal, psychological and employment assistance to veterans. However, little help comes from the Ministry of Veteran Affairs and any other state authorities.
Teen suicide
Another vulnerable group in terms of suicide is youth. According to the WHO, suicide is the second leading cause of death after road injury in the 15–29 age category.
Charity organization Teenergizer is attempting to help prevent teen suicide by providing online consultations.
Yana Panfilova, who runs Teenergizer, says that many teenagers feel depressed and anxious for multiple reasons, such as: hormonal spikes and mood swings, first nonreciprocal romantic feelings and the desire to be independent. The COVID‑19 quarantine, during which students have been isolated at home, only contributed to these conditions, Panfilova says.
According to Panfilova, parents in Ukraine often lack knowledge on how to communicate with teenagers, and even if they do, teenagers rarely see them as an authority. Meanwhile, school psychologists seem intimidating to students and, again, psychological help is regarded as something shameful.
That is why Teenergizer uses tools familiar to teenagers — online chatting.
“They live in their phones,” Panfilova told the Kyiv Post. “It’s easier for them to chat than to talk.”
Teenergizer also uses the peer-to-peer principle, involving students pursuing psychology degrees to consult with teenagers.
Panfilova says that teenagers are largely overlooked in Ukraine, although this vulnerable group needs special attention. She believes that Ukraine should establish a separate agency for teenage health, while schools should be more innovative in the ways they work with youth.
No plan
For suicide prevention to be effective, the WHO recommends that countries take a holistic approach targeting many layers and fields.
The essential steps include reducing means for causing self-harm, raising suicide awareness among the public, responsible media coverage, early identification and management of mental and substance use disorders in communities, and by health workers in particular.
According to the WHO, communities and close circles of people with suicidal thoughts who support each other can play an essential role in preventing suicide if they learn how to detect such behavior and act accordingly. For that reason, a media campaign raising suicide awareness is the centerpiece in this battle.
A 2019 study published in the BMC Psychiatry journal demonstrated that the implementation of a national strategy is an effective tool to reduce suicide rates. However, only 38 countries have national plans for preventing suicide at the moment and Ukraine is not on the list.
Since 1991 when Ukraine became independent, there has been no major effort from the health ministry to educate the public about mental health and erase the stigma surrounding it.
But while Ukraine fails at helping vulnerable groups overcome their unhealthy conditions, civil society continues to prevent suicide, helping one person at a time.
Apart from Teenergizer and Lifeline Ukraine, there are several more non-profit organizations that offer assistance to those having suicidal thoughts, though there is still a major lack of such organizations.
Niland believes that their work is worthwhile no matter what the numbers are.
“It comes down to one life saved,” he says.
