Every year, almost 46,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 around the world take their own lives, approximately 1 every 11 minutes. Suicide is the fifth most common cause of death among adolescents ages 10 to 19 and the fourth most common cause of death among adolescents ages 15 to 19.
Close to the International Day for Suicide Prevention, which occurs on September 10th and which aims to shed light on a phenomenon responsible for approximately 800,000 deaths, one every 40 seconds, the picture regarding the psychological situation of children and adolescents, and the requests for help is worrying.
In fact, if with the pandemic the fear for the mental health of children has increased and according to Istat, in 2021 in Italy, where in general suicides are around 4 thousand every year for all age groups, there are 220 thousand children between 14 and 19 years old dissatisfied with their lives and, at the same time, at the same time, in a condition of poor psychological well-being, reports relating to suicide have never been as high as in 2021.
Almost 6,000 requests for help arrived at Telefono Amico Italia from people experiencing thoughts of suicide or worried about the possible suicide of a loved one. They grew by 55% compared to 2020 and almost quadrupled compared to 2019, before the pandemic. The 28% is from under 26s. In the first half of 2022 there were more than 2,700 requests for help, the 28% from young people up to 25 years of age.
Over the last 10 years, admissions to the Bambino Gesù hospital for thinking and planning suicide or having attempted it have grown exponentially, with an increase in particular in 75% in the 2 years of the pandemic compared to the previous two years. From 369 cases in 2018-2019 they went to 649 in 2020-2021, on average practically one case every day.
"The new technologies - explains Maurizio Pompili, Professor of Psychiatry at La Sapienza University of Rome - give a lot, also in terms of suicide prevention because you can ask for help at any time, but they also hide a less positive side, for example relating to cyberbullying. Training should also be given on the use of social networks in schools. Talk about suicide prevention but also about the potential and risks of new technologies".
"Suicide in younger people is a phenomenon of great impact, also because it presents a case all its own, not necessarily comparable to the problems of adults - adds Pompili - often only in hindsight do anticipatory signals appear clearly which had been somehow encrypted Care should be taken if the child is unable to follow school activities, does not apply himself in sports, is withdrawn, has unidentifiable somatic problems, uses substances to a significant extent. Furthermore, young people should be taught to recognize between their peers the person who needs help."
Photo by Dids: https://www.pexels.com/photo/depressed-female-soaking-in-bathtub-5616298/
