The statistics of teenage suicide in Russia are disappointing. According to this indicator, our country takes the fourth place in the world. The first three are divided among themselves by India, China and America. For example, in 2013, according to statistics, 20 out of 100,000 voluntarily passed away. Child-adolescent suicides have an uneven prevalence. In the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, for example, the statistics of teenage suicides is 255 people per 100 thousand people, while in Chechnya this figure is 2.3 per similar number.
For two months in Moscow, an average of about 180-240 attempts at teenage suicide is recorded. On a day, health workers receive 3-4 calls related to suicide of minors.
Causes of Teen Suicide
Unresolved conflicts at home, financial problems, loss of a loved one, as well as alcohol or drug abuse - these are a number of reasons that are usually characteristic of adults who decide to commit suicide. Adolescence has slightly different characteristics. Often this is unrequited love or misunderstanding on the part of loved ones. 75% of suicidal teenagers have single-parent families, often including orphans.
However, alcoholism and drug addiction can also be the causes of suicide of adolescents. In a state of withdrawal, or withdrawal, when severe physical pain and depression are felt, the once thought-out plan for passing away is usually embodied. Psychotherapists argue that the idea of suicide very rarely occurs spontaneously. Most often, it happens that a person for a long time ponders ways to commit suicide.
Teenage suicide has its own factors. Problems with study, in communication with peers, the detachment of parents - all this, day after day, worsens the mental state of children. Stress is cumulative. It begins to seem to teenagers that if the present and the past do not bring any joy, then their future will develop in a similar way.
Indirect reasons
Strange as it may seem, factors such as the political situation and the economic crisis in the country also affect the state of adolescents. Due to the increased anxiety level of parents, children also begin to experience psycho-emotional difficulties, to some extent losing the support of adults who are powerless in the face of circumstances. Thus, the mental state of adults also affects adolescent suicide. Statistics show that suicidal tendencies also depend on gender. Among girls, this figure is 8 people per 100 thousand people, among boys - 33 people.
What teens are suicidal
You must pay attention to the following risk factors, especially if a teenager is threatened by several of them:
- Suicide in family history. If one of the relatives of the teenager ended his life of his own free will, this increases the overall suicidal risk among other family members.
- Alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is another factor provoking teenage suicide. Russia ranks fifth in the world in alcohol consumption, however, these data due to shadow turnover are considered underestimated. This dependence provokes chemical changes in the central nervous system. As a result of these disorders, adolescents, as well as adults, develop a depressive state and significantly increase the level of anxiety.
- Addiction. Drugs, especially their use in conjunction with alcohol, are a deadly factor. A person loses control of himself, ceases to be aware of his motives and needs. Intensifying depression can go into a psychotic state.
- Unfinished attempt to pass away in the past. About a third of adolescents who attempted suicide in the past then commit suicide to the end.
- The presence of mental illness, as well as neurotic tendencies.
- Hints of suicide.
Loss and suicide
Serious loss can lead to depression and suicide. The teenage character is maximalistic: for example, love can seem to be the "little adult" last in his life. You need to understand this, as well as take the personality of a teenager seriously. Other losses may be associated with the loss of physical health of a loved one. In all cases, not only depression but also anger and anger take over the adolescent.
Set of conditions
It should be noted that very rarely only one of the listed factors pushes an unformed individual to suicide. Adolescence is a transitional period, and we must remember that in it everyone is perceived especially acutely. Despite the fact that belonging to a risk group does not always mean compulsory suicide, relatives, teachers and friends need to be very careful about their presence. Teenage suicide is a situation that requires outside intervention. Children need a person who is able to change the situation and help them by hearing the cry of the soul.
Signs by which you can determine a possible suicide
- Eating disorders: a complete lack of appetite or, conversely, uncontrolled gluttony.
- Neglecting one's own appearance: for example, untidiness in clothes for several days.
- Physical complaints: migraine or abdominal pain.
- Lack of pleasure from those activities that used to bring joy. Feeling of boredom or apathy.
- An ongoing feeling of guilt, total loneliness.
- Deterioration of concentration.
- Short temper, frequent angry reactions for minor reasons.
Diagnosis of teenage suicide
The vast majority of adolescents in one way or another let the environment know about their plans. The act of suicide itself is the final stage when the cup of patience is already full. This is preceded by a certain period of time when a teenager, under the pressure of circumstances, reflects on suicide, directly or indirectly making it clear to parents and others.
Preventive measures
Adolescents who, by one or several signs, have a tendency to suicide, need long-term psychotherapeutic help. Of particular importance in preventing the death of minors of their own free will is timely diagnosis from others. Neglecting alarms can be fatal for a teenager.
It is also very important to analyze those factors that will help keep a person from a terrible step. The first condition is the absence of mental disorders. Other factors are as follows:
- The atmosphere of mutual assistance and understanding in the family.
- Cultural values of a teenager for which suicide is unacceptable.
- Strengthening character weaknesses. Such an Achilles heel can serve, for example, excessive sensitivity and vulnerability. If a teenager has vulnerability in any area, directed psychotherapy of this trait is necessary.
Depression and Suicide
The problem of teenage suicide is closely linked to depression. Suicidality has many symptoms inherent in a classic depressive state. The latter does not necessarily mean that a person is on the verge of suicide. But the pre-suicidal state is characterized by depression. Those activities that previously brought the teenager pleasure cease to please him. Life loses its color and becomes tasteless. In other words, the “pleasure button” breaks. Other signals that characterize depression are motor inhibition, sleep disturbances, a sense of being useless, a constant feeling of guilt, even sin.
A person can either be silent for a long time, or, conversely, suddenly become talkative. His speech consists of complaints, requests for help.
Teen Suicide Prevention
Suicide is a person’s reaction to those circumstances in which life has become impossible for him. The causes of suicide are always different, and most often an individual has several of them. But such an act is always a consequence of the fact that the conditions in which a person lived became more and more subjective unbearable for him. Teenagers always let them know about it: more than 70% of them somehow communicate their intentions to other people. It can be both seemingly ridiculous hints, and quite obvious statements.
Adolescent suicide is largely prevented by a strategy similar to adult psychotherapy. Correction of behavior includes the application of various approaches. Firstly, it is work to increase self-esteem, help in developing an adequate attitude towards oneself. It is necessary to teach a teenager to cope with stress, find new motivation for life, achievements, and also replace the so-called significant others. In other words, it is necessary, if possible, to fill those voids that push a person to suicide. A teenage psychologist - sometimes this is the specialist who is also really needed. Therefore, among other things, do not neglect the possibility of providing professional support.
Communication with a teenager
Sometimes relatives of a potential suicide may exhibit behavior that only exacerbates the state of the teenager. And they can do it with the best of intentions. For example, reluctance to discuss this problem or resorting to dogmas and prohibitions that exist in this regard in religion. This only increases the feeling of guilt and misunderstanding.
It must be borne in mind that those who contemplate suicide, whether adolescents or adults, are in a very serious emotional state. Guilt, sadness, anger, aggression, fear - all this vicious emotional tangle needs at least to be paid attention to. But often the family and the environment focus on precisely these depressive manifestations, are outraged by how the teenager behaves and what he says. Therefore, he does not receive support even from those who, it would seem, should come to the rescue of the first.
Teenage Suicide: Prevention Steps
- It is necessary to accept the fact of the possibility of such a decision by a teenager. Sometimes people are afraid to exaggerate the risk of suicide. But even if they make such a mistake, it will be nothing compared to the lost life of a teenager. Therefore, you need to accept him as a person, to admit the very possibility that this growing person is, in principle, capable of committing such an act. It is not necessary to consider that if someone decided to commit suicide, no one can stop him. The temptation to think so is very great. But every day, hundreds of people around the world die of their own free will, although they could be stopped.
- It is necessary to establish a warm and trusting relationship with the child. It is impossible to completely solve all the problems that push a person to suicide. But accepting it as it is, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of a terrible act. No need to try to teach the life of a "little adult" and moralize. Much more he needs love, care and attention, expressed both verbally and in the form of hugs, touches, smiles. Caring is what helps an anxious and desperate individual to feel needed again.
- A teenager needs to be listened to. Often he wants to express his feelings, all the emotional pain that has accumulated in him. With his behavior, he demonstrates what he would like to say out loud: "I have nothing left to value - anything for which you can still live." Communicating with a potential suicide, especially a teenager, can be difficult. But it must be remembered that it is difficult precisely because of this tendency, because a teenager can no longer concentrate on anything other than his mental pain.
- Search for the main causes of possible suicide. It is necessary not only to support the teenager and take care of him, but also to notice signs of suicidal behavior. If in a speech there are threats to take his own life, if he is lonely and isolated from society, constantly feels unhappy, all this can be serious signs of a desire to leave this world.
Prevention of suicide in a teenage environment requires first of all the participation of adults, their ability to listen to a teenager and help him. Help should not consist in teaching, but in accepting a teenager, support, training in finding alternatives. Attention to those signals that are characteristic of his behavior will help save a human life.