Suicide attempts triple in police records

Police recorded 100 attempted suicides in May and 89 in April, more than triple the monthly figures logged in the first three months of the year, according to updated statistics provided to the Maldives Independent.

Alongside 13 deaths, the figures put recorded attempts at 273 between January and May this year. The numbers follow a 10-year high of 35 suicides in 2025 and a cluster of deaths in April that drew sustained national attention. 

Police recorded 28 attempts in January, 29 in February and 27 in March before the jump to 89 in April and 100 in May. Thirteen deaths were recorded over the five months: three in January, four in February, none in March, four in April and two in May.

The sharpest rise came in Hulhumalé, where recorded attempts went from two in January to 36 in May, more than a third of all cases recorded nationwide that month, followed by Malé with 33 in May. As with previous police statistics, the sex of the person was not logged in every record and the male–female breakdown is incomplete.

At least two explanations could account for the rise: recorded attempts could be rising because more people are in crisis. Alternately, the counting itself may have changed: greater public attention, referrals through the mental health helpline, closer police involvement in welfare responses or hospitals reporting more systematically, all of which could have moved previously unlogged cases into police records.

April was the month the mental health crisis broke into full public view. An 18-year-old student died in a Maldives National University dormitory on April 20 – one of four deaths police recorded that month – and the homeland security minister's decision to read out her messages to the police victim support unit at a televised press conference drew widespread condemnation. Ten civil society organisations warned that the minister's disclosure would discourage help-seeking. Young people interviewed at the time described a hardened reluctance to involve police at all. A counsellor at a private clinic in Malé described a pattern of rising calls and messages from people seeking help after public incidents.

Research on what is known as the Werther effect has repeatedly found that prominent, detailed or emotionally charged accounts of suicide can increase risk among vulnerable people, particularly the young. UNICEF Maldives warned of the effect on June 24 after April's deaths, which spread within hours through group chats and social media.

At the end of April, the health minister met the police commissioner to coordinate support services that had long operated in parallel, seeking improvements to inter-agency protocols on how cases are handled. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu fast-tracked a mental health hospital in response to a problem he said had "reached a point where it needs additional assistance". Since Aasandha health insurance was expanded to cover mental health with effect from January 1, 10,953 patients had sought psychiatric consultation and psychological therapy as of April 24, the president revealed, a figure he characterised as a fee barrier removed and latent demand released. 

In late June, Health Minister Geela Ali told parliament that more than 70,000 people had sought psychiatric consultations between 2023 and 2025, of which 45,000 were in the Greater Malé area. A mental health helpline established in 2024 handled more than 10,000 calls in 2025 alone. A 10,000 square foot plot has been allocated in Hulhumalé for the mental health hospital, the minister said, adding that the facility needed to be in the region with the most patients. 

A nationwide study published in November by the Asia Foundation and the Maldivian Nurses Association found that among young people aged 13 to 15, about one in six had seriously considered suicide in the past year. One in seven had survived an attempt. About three in 10 Maldivians overall are estimated to experience mental health challenges.

Data obtained earlier by the Maldives Independent from the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital showed youth mental health consultations for patients aged 10 to 19 rose more than fivefold between 2015 and 2024, from 692 to 3,524.

By repeated accounts, the existing system in place to respond is overwhelmed. When the Maldives Independent checked IGMH's appointment portal in April, a person seeking a first appointment was placed 1,300th on the waitlist. Private clinics report their own queues running into months.

The research that documented the Werther effect has also established its counterpart, known as the Papageno effect: accounts of coping, help-seeking and recovery can reduce risk. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available on the mental health helpline 1677 or at mhsgmv.org/get-help.