Israel has witnessed a 24 percent increase in reports of attempted suicide, according to a report from the Magen David Adom (MDA) volunteer ambulance service. The spike comes in the wake of the highly publicized suicide death of embattled media star Dudu Topaz this past August. Topaz struggled with depression, which came to light after he was imprisoned for threatening people during a dispute in the media industry.
In the first seven months of this year, from January to July 2009, MDA said it received 2,778 calls connected to suicide attempts, with an average of 397 per month. Since the beginning of August until September 21, however, 829 attempted suicides were called in to the ambulance responder service -- approximately 100 incidents per week. Some 400 suicides occur in the Jewish State each year, according to Health Ministry statistics.
The report was compiled at the request of the Ministry of Health’s National Suicide Prevention Program due to concerns that the high profile suicide of a famous entertainer could influence people and cause an increase in suicide attempts.
Program Director Lior Carmel called on the media to report similar cases responsibly.