Violence, suicide creep up as Lebanese population flounders
Murder has gone up by 18% this year in Lebanon, but perhaps an even more insidious danger is a rise in mental distress and suicide.
For the past couple of months, Jeff Jabbour hasn’t been feeling safe in the streets of Beirut. There is less light at night and rumors about violence and robberies. The young doctor, as many other Lebanese, can sense the desperation of people in public spaces.
“This increase of the feeling of insecurity is because of the crisis that we are living in,” he told Al-Monitor. New data by the research center Information International confirms his sense: There has been an 18% rise in murder cases and suicides gave gone up by 7.8% compared with the same period last year.
