More Suicides as a Result of Fires

As if smoke inhalation and related respiratory diseases weren’t enough, Moscow doctors are saying they expect an increased suicide rate as a result of the wildfires. City officials, who were criticised for not doing enough when the smoke levels in Moscow were at their worst, now seem to be trying to redeem themselves in the public eye, announcing that money originally intended for an upcoming anniversary celebration to mark to founding of Moscow would instead go to health care. We’ll see what happens. The Moscow Times has the story:

“That heat has affected all the organs, including the respiratory and endocrine systems, and we should expect more cases of diabetes, suicide and alcohol-related nervous breakdowns,” said Boris Revich, a senior demography and environmental researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, RIA-Novosti reported.

He said official data have not been released yet but noted that children and pregnant women have been particularly affected by the heat.

Over the past few weeks, more than 6,000 people have turned to psychologists at the Emergency Situations Ministry, said Yulia Shoigu, chief of the ministry’s psychological assistance department.

“Mostly people were feeling stress and fears related to the fire,” said Shoigu, a daughter of Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, Interfax reported.