Every two hours and four minutes, someone commits suicide in Argentina. These cold statistics, extracted from the report of the National Criminal Information System of the Ministry of Security for the period 2024, reveal an alarming fact: with 4,249 recorded deaths, suicide is already the leading cause of violent deaths in our country, It clearly outperforms road deaths and leaves homicides in third place.
This dramatic fact is not reflected in the public agenda. While the population has become obsessed with the insecurity and clashes that continue to occupy the screens of news channels every hour, the psychological discomfort that ends in death by suicide remains in the shadows.
Every two hours, one person commits suicide and two attempt it
The crisis worsens if infection numbers are observed. The Ministry of Health, through data from the National Health Surveillance System (SNVS), recently revealed that on average, 22 people try to kill themselves every day They are registered in the health system. This means that for every person who commits suicide every two hours, at least two other people attempt suicide and manage to survive, underscoring the severity of the mental health crisis the country is experiencing.
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It is clear that society has not noticed this yet The silent epidemic that is developing rapidlyWe are riding the economic crisis and harmful models of success that are constantly reaching us via our cell phones.
Evolution of the total number of suicides in Argentina.
Although the suicide rate has been escalating in recent years, with steady growth resulting in numbers rising by 30% recently (since 2017), the number of cases reached a record high in 2024 (4,249), under the government of Javier Miley. Although final and audited numbers for 2025 are not yet available, all indicators of social and economic risks and demand in the health system indicate that this trend will continue or get worse.
Feeling like a failure in a world of success
What are the reasons behind this real tragedy? This phenomenon can be explained in two broad areas: objective and subjective.
Among the objective or structural factors, we can mention the accelerating deterioration in living conditions Increase in layoffsEconomic recession, high inflation and fall Wide income. Professionals and organizations such as the Office of the Ombudsman agree that these factors act as powerful catalysts for despair by significantly reducing possibilities for personal and family development, increasing the impact of budget cuts in prevention policies.
Among the subjective aspects necessary to understand the phenomenon is the role of consumption and culture. the The spread of “successful” or “desirable” lifestyle models.” – promoted by social networks (especially Instagram, which is very visual) and advertisements, which glorify material well-being, eternal youth and unlimited performance – end up generating additional psychological suffering. Scientific studies strongly support this analysis: reports such as that of the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) have ranked platforms such as Instagram as the most harmful to young people’s mental health, because they actively promote upward social comparison and feelings of inferiority and inadequacy.
Mental health alert for children and adolescents
This tension between what “should be” (the successful and demanding standard) and what “could be” (limited by economic reality) creates a gap of frustration, isolation and powerlessness, a phenomenon that sociology addresses with anomie theory. These areas of study also emphasize the gradual disintegration of the fabric of social support as a major factor in fatal outcomes.
Smartphones, selfies, and the like create psychological discomfort
The analysis shown in the video “How to Be Happy” by Ophelia Fernandez Establishes a direct and alarming connection between digital culture and increased fatal outcomes in young people. One key finding is that the record growth in rates of depression, self-harm, and suicide attempts among teens, recorded since 2010, coincides in time with the widespread adoption of smartphones and the addictive design of social networking. “He loves”, Front camera, infinite scrolling). The basic argument is that the design of these platforms acts as a “casino” or “universal drug” by constantly stimulating the brain’s reward pathway with dopamine.
This mechanism generates an “alienation of presence,” where life turns into a constant search for validation (“constant selfie-like”), eliminating the ability to tolerate boredom, uncertainty, and unproductive time. This hyper-attachment and resulting forced social comparison (“cyberself”) exacerbates frustration and feelings of inadequacy, promoting the disintegration of the fabric of social support and chronic anxiety that dramatically limits young people’s resilience in the face of despair and fatal outcomes.
While suicides are declining in the rest of the world, they are increasing in Argentina
The phenomenon of suicide in Argentina is not only alarming because of its record size (4,249 deaths in 2024), but also because it is developing contrary to the trend worldwide. While the World Health Organization notes a general decline in suicide rates in recent decades, led by high-income countries implementing strong prevention strategies, the Americas region – and Argentina in particular – shows a continuing upward trend.
The increase in the suicide rate among teens is alarming
This difference is not accidental; It is the result of the fatal interaction between two crises that the state has failed to mitigate:
The first factor is the absence of a structural containment pad. Countries that have managed to reduce their numbers are steadily investing in mental health and have social care systems and stable economies that act as safety nets. When a person faces a crisis, the welfare state cushions the fall and reduces the feeling of complete despair. In contrast, Argentina faces a state of chronic economic instability that destroys the horizon of certainty. As the Ombudsman reports, this situation generates “structural despair” that does not allow cases to return to low baseline levels after each recession.
The second factor is the amplifying resilience crisis. The digital accelerator (social networking, forced comparison) is a global problem, but its impact is magnified in societies with fragile foundations. The isolation of digital presence affects a population that also lacks economic resources and a strong state support network due to budget cuts in prevention policies (mentioned in the SNIC report).
In essence, while the rest of the world invests in alleviating structural causes and provides psychological refuge, Argentina faces the problem in a brutal economic context and lack of funding. The continuing rise in numbers is the tragic result of this double weakness.
The fatal difference: global suicide rate versus the Argentine rate
According to this graph, which crosses data from Argentina and the World Health Organization, the facts were very different at the beginning of the century. Thanks to the large numbers of Eastern European or Asian countries scoring very high numbers, the rest of the world was well above Argentina. Since that moment, thanks to prevention and mental health policies, most countries in the world have been able to reduce their numbers, and Argentina is quite the opposite. So much so that between 2023 and 2024, Argentines will become among the populations most at risk of suicide in the world.
This is explained because in Argentina Miley, all the problems come together. The deterioration of living conditions accelerated, incomes declined further than under previous governments, and the same authority legitimized discourses of individual success that failed to reach the majority of society. All this, while funding assistance and prevention programs that produce many results on an intentional level are being stopped. This explosive combination means that between 2023 and 2024, the highest annual growth in suicide deaths in the modern history of our country will be achieved.
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