Editorial: El País

• Suicides in Spain decreased by 6.5% in 2023 compared to the previous year, marking the first decrease in five years.
• Suicide is a public health issue, and many of these deaths are preventable with proper intervention.
• For every completed suicide there are 20 attempts, and each death directly affects an average of six people.
• The silence surrounding suicide has prevented both an awareness of the problem and the implementation of effective preventive measures.
• Current mental health services are insufficient to effectively respond to increasing disorders such as anxiety and depression.
• More than half of the people who committed suicide in 2023 were taking anxiolytics. Spain is the country with the highest consumption of psychotropic drugs.

Conclusion: It is crucial to urgently address the problem of suicide through the reinforcement of mental health services, social awareness, prevention of the misuse of anxiolytics, and the opening of a public dialogue on this issue.

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