Almost as many suicides recorded in Brussels this year as in the whole of 2019

In the first ten months of 2020, the Brussels Prosecutor's Office has already opened 103 cases of suicide. That's almost as many as in the whole of 2019, when the office dealt with 106 suicide cases and the same number recorded in the whole of 2017. Experts say that the coronavirus crisis is a major contributing factor to this rise.

"We have to be careful with the interpretation of these figures, because the year is not over yet," says Déborah Deseck, the spokeswoman for the French-speaking Centre for the Prevention of Suicide. The second lockdown has only just begun and will last until mid-December.

The centre noted in June that the coronavirus crisis was having an impact on people already experiencing suicidal thoughts. "Suicidal behaviour is multifactorial,” says Déborah Deseck. “The coronavirus crisis will not lead to suicide, but it is an accelerating factor." The centre further points to factors such as job losses and bankruptcies as factors increasing suicidal behaviour.

Since the pandemic began, volunteers working on the suicide prevention helpline have also been getting more calls. "Not only do the volunteers feel a sharp increase in the number of calls, they also indicate that the conversations have become more intense," says Deseck. "The feelings of fear have increased."

The latter can also be seen in the health surveys conducted by Sciensano, Belgium’s national public health and research institute. In the fourth and final Corona Health Survey (from 24 September to 2 October), 18% of 30,000-plus respondents reported experiencing anxiety disorders. That's less than the 23% recorded at the start of the crisis, but still a lot more than in 2018, when it was 11%.

"Anxiety and depressive disorders increased between June and September in people working in the health sector, while the numbers remained stable among other workers," reads Sciensano's report.

In the latest health survey, 3.5% of respondents indicated that they had given serious thought to ending their lives between July and September. The figure was 8% in the previous survey from June.