On November 11, was born in the pages of EL MUNDO 'Eleven lives', a project aimed at addressing with depth, rigor, responsibility and sensitivity a reality historically silenced and that causes devastating pain: suicide. Since then, every 11th of every month, in memory of the 11 people who take their lives daily in Spain, this newspaper has published seven reports from different perspectives on this serious public and social health problem to contribute to the prevention of deaths that increase every year and that cause a devastating impact on society.
The Official College of Psychology of Madrid wanted to reward this work and has distinguished with "The Special Award for the Best Dissemination Work" to the four journalists who make Once Lives, Santiago Saiz, Rebeca Yanke, Rafael J. Álvarez and Yaiza Perera. The jury has unanimously agreed on the award and has valued "very positively the quality and informative rigor of the articles that it has addressed in depth, with the collaboration of experts and affected, the serious public health problem that is suicide and that concerns the whole society".
The project 'Eleven lives' arises from the firm conviction of the need to break the silence and make visible with maximum respect and rigor the reality of suicide, an avoidable death in most cases, and inform, train and raise awareness to join forces against pain. The latest data from the INE of 2021 certify that 4,003 people took their lives that year per day. Of these, 22 were under the age of 15.
The first report published by EL MUNDO made a detailed x-ray of the situation in Spain, where the effort is growing in prevention measures but still insufficient. Spain does not have a National Plan on this matter and the Autonomous Communities are responsible for implementing and maintaining the protection network.
NOVEMBER 11, 2022
X-ray of suicide in Spain.
More deaths, increased risk among young people and a growing but insufficient effort in prevention
- Writing: YAIZA PERERA
- Writing: INFOGRAPHIC: GABRIELA GALARZA Madrid
More deaths, increased risk among young people and a growing but insufficient effort in prevention
In December, the series addressed the intervention of emergency teams in a risk situation of a person with suicidal ideation and how that professional accompaniment should be.
DECEMBER 11, 2022
EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT.
Words, gestures and listening against suicide: "To help well you have to touch the pain"
- Writing: SANTIAGO SAIZ MADRID
- Writing: DANIEL IZEDDIN (VIDEO)
Words, gestures and listening against suicide: "To help well you have to touch the pain"
In the Once Lives project, it is a priority to offer resources to help people who are going through such intense suffering that they cannot see another alternative to death. In January, survivors recounted how they managed to cling back to life in order to open a path of hope and experts explained protection guidelines to both those affected and their families.
JANUARY 11, 2023
PROTECT YOUR LIFE.
"Seek help before distress blocks you, you are not alone"
- Writing: YAIZA PERERA Madrid
"Seek help before distress blocks you, you are not alone"
In February we turned our attention to one of the professional groups where the suicide rate is higher, the health workers. The weight of the stigma also falls on their pain.
FEBRUARY 11, 2023
PROFESSIONALS AT RISK.
8% of health workers have thought about suicide during the pandemic: "It is difficult for them to ask for help because they are afraid of being vulnerable"
- Writing: REBECA YANKE Madrid
8% of health workers have thought about suicide during the pandemic: "It is difficult for them to ask for help because they are afraid of being vulnerable"
Spain still lacks a National Suicide Prevention Plan. After years of waiting, experts claim in this delivery of March to the central government a specific initiative, with its own economic resources and that does not stick only to the field of mental health.
MARCH 11, 2023
Politics.
The national plan against suicide that never came: "Among the ruling class there has been no conscience or will"
- Writing: SANTIAGO SAIZ Madrid
- Writing: ILLUSTRATION: EVA CERDÁ SANCHO
The national plan against suicide that never came: "Among the ruling class there has been no conscience or will"
Knowing a person's life circumstances and mental state in the days leading up to their death is key not only to understanding the causes of their suffering but to preventing other deaths. There is a key tool for this that is hardly used in Spain: the psychological autopsy. Several experts explained in the April installment how this research is carried out.
APRIL 11, 2023
Research.
Psychological autopsy of a person who died by suicide: inquiring about his life, emotions and thoughts to prevent other deaths
- Writing: YAIZA PERERA Madrid
Psychological autopsy of a person who died by suicide: inquiring about his life, emotions and thoughts to prevent other deaths
In May our prevention page was for the great forgotten, the elderly. A thousand people over the age of 70 took their own lives in 2021, one in four. The pain of chronic illness is intermingled with isolation, in addition to other factors such as "tiredness of living" and the fear of being completely dependent
MAY 11, 2023
Bless you.
Suicide in the elderly, the great forgotten: "The family is in trouble, loneliness spreads and they are more vulnerable"
- Writing: REBECA YANKE Madrid
- Writing: PHOTOGRAPHS: JOSÉ AYMÁ
Suicide in the elderly, the great forgotten: "The family is in trouble, loneliness spreads and they are more vulnerable"
This path of prevention that has now been recognized will continue in the coming months in THE WORLD under the firm intention of contributing to a collective work that involves multiple and different areas from health, education, politics to society in general. Journalism, under the premises of maximum rigor, respect and sensitivity, becomes an indispensable tool in this work to reduce the 11 deaths that occur every day in Spain under immense pain.
- Suicide Prevention
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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