Cases of Suicide During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a great deal of death and morbidity globally. This virus is a virus that originated in the city of Wuhan, China. This virus emerged on December 8, 2019 and spread widely to other countries in early 2020. According to WHO data, as of March 1, 2020, 65 countries had been detected as having cases of Covid-19. Indonesia first confirmed the presence of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia on March 2, 2020, namely two people aged 31 years and a mother aged 64 years. Indonesia became the first country in ASEAN with the highest rate of death and positive cases of Covid-19.

In this era of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been many changes that have resulted in the disruption of many things, such as in the social, economic, education, and global health sectors. Survey data around the world has shown that thoughts in adults, such as thoughts of committing suicide, depression, anxiety are increasing in this pandemic era. The effects of a pandemic on mental health are complex. Psychological impacts are also caused by pandemic conditions (Rahmawati, 2021). This is indicated by the pandemic that has left an impact on mental health, the increased risk of suicide, and the urgent need to conduct research on the prevention of suicidal ideation.

Based on research from the literature, suicidal ideation begins with many factors, such as events that make the victims want to end themselves, changes in gaining knowledge, economic decline so that they do not get income to live, becoming unemployed, the influence of the environment which also has thoughts of ending life, not meeting people so that they feel no one will help the victim.

The government had issued a decision to maintain physical distancing, this of course can change many things in social terms, such as the formation of anxiety in residents. However, this can also cause negative things for people who are prone to mental disorders, such as people with depression and experiencing other disorders. Patients with illnesses that require a psychiatrist at any time can become a population at a higher risk of Covid-19 (Zalsman et al., 2020).

Applications such as zoom conference, google meet, and other applications have made it easier for us to meet each other, but can drain more energy at the same time because there is a need for adaptation from those who usually meet in person until now, which can only meet through screens. Although suicide cases can be reduced through this, it cannot be denied that the cases are still increasing drastically due to other factors. An example is the education sector where there has been a change since the pandemic, namely meetings to gain knowledge are no longer offline or face-to-face in class, but have changed with meetings being held online or online through various platforms, such as google meet and zoom which support learning for students ( Dwi Ananda & Apsari, 2020).

Suicide is a very urgent matter and is not a problem that can be taken lightly, it can get worse if not handled properly. With this, the article is expected to produce various ways to reduce suicide cases through prevention efforts in the form of moral values and knowledge that make life aware that life should not be wasted.