Puerto Rico’s Commission for Suicide Prevention reported 41 suicide cases on the island between July and September, according to psychologist Kalitza Baerga Santini, who spoke in a radio interview on the program Pega’os en la Mañana. Baerga Santini said suicide cases have decreased in Puerto Rico. She also said the conditions the country faces have affected the population emotionally.
The community is what saves us.
"In the last two decades suicides continue to occur and we do not want them to continue occurring. However, we are living through very difficult times, conditions that lead us to despair, and that has to be taken into account," she said. The psychologist urged people who need emotional support, as well as their relatives, to seek professional help and use the available resources.
"The community is what saves us. That solidarity among everyone is important because this is systemic and not individual," she said. She noted that Puerto Rico has the PAS Line at 988, where people can call and receive help 24 hours a day, seven days a week.