Adolescent Suicide Prevention Strategies

Despite being a phenomenon of tremendous magnitude, suicide is not talked about. According to the World Health Organization, every 40 seconds a person ends up taking their own life, that is, around 703,000 people a year. The number is even higher if we think of the hundreds of thousands of tragedies that this entails, both for those who commit suicide and for their family circle and friends. Given such figures, it is understandable that many people close to someone vulnerable consider that calling for silence is a good preventive strategy. However, by avoiding talking about it for fear of "provoking ideas", they are actually guiding their behavior by a myth about suicide, which only makes it a little more invisible.

This is common in parents who have heard their children teenagers threaten to take their own life. Their situation is also complex since, many times, despite having good intentions, they do not understand what kind of suffering their child finds intolerable, or don't know how they could help you. But the statistics, more than scaring us, have to put us on alert to develop preventive strategies. That is why in this article we will describe the basic aspects about suicide that people close to an adolescent at risk should know, and

the most relevant adolescent suicide prevention strategies to consider.

• Related article: "Suicidology: what it is, characteristics and objectives of this science"

suicide in adolescence

Although the cases of suicide in adolescents are increasing —according to UNICEF, in the last 30 years they have tripled—, this does not mean that it is a new, generational or purely epochal problem. We bring this back as teens who threaten to kill themselves don't always mean it lightly. And it's what to say or think "I want to die" It is not a new term that is part of the vocabulary of today's young people, but it could be a genuine request for help. That is why parents should aim to be as validating as possible with the suffering of their son, still without understanding the underlying reasons for that pain, still without knowing how to act to help you.

Does this mean that all adolescents who have said or thought phrases like this have wanted to commit suicide? Not at all. Most don't, and The fact of having had the occasional thought of wanting to end one's life is not, according to the WHO, an abnormal event. Nor is it an argument to be neglected: nine out of ten people who end up taking their own lives explicitly warned their loved ones in advance, so it is always important, as parents or friends of a person at risk, to be willing to listen and talk about it, even if you don't know how. prevent it.

• You may be interested in: "Suicidal thoughts: causes, symptoms and therapy"

Why do some people consider suicide?

In order to understand suicide prevention strategies in adolescence, it is important that parents and close friends know, in broad terms, why a young person may consider suicide a option. We know that suicide is a multi-causal phenomenon, which is why it is not easy to establish an unequivocal cause for it. The life of an adolescent can be crossed by an endless number of problems, some more minor and other serious ones, such as staying in violent or abusive social ties, being victims of bullying either bullying, or have suffered sexual abuse. All of these could constitute risk factors linked to suicide.

It is normal and expected that these situations trigger an intense emotional response in the adolescent, be it fear, anger, anxiety or sadness. Emotions have an adaptive function, they have had a purpose at an evolutionary level and they operate as informants so that we give adequate responses to the environment in which we face. The problem is that, many times, the emotions that an adolescent experiences in the face of such events are so intense that they cannot regulate them, and therefore, carry out specific behaviors that in the short term can be effective in relieving pain —such as consuming substances, threatening to commit suicide or self-harm—, but in the medium and long term they generate negative consequences for their goals.

In general terms, suicidal behaviors are not only impulse control problems (since many times there is a drop that overflows the camel's back in that emotional sea that ends up triggering an attempt to kill oneself), but, above all, they have the function of regulating intense emotions in the short term. The person who chooses to commit suicide does not do so because they do not want to live any longer, even if they declare it to be so, but because they do not want to live any longer. with that intense pain that no one seems to understand. People who consider suicide do so because they believe that they do not have better abilities to alleviate that suffering. For this reason, psychological treatments for patients with suicidal behavior aim at acquiring the necessary tools to regulate and act in different ways in the face of such pain, while finding goals or values ​​that guide a life that is worth being lived.

• Related article: "Mental health: definition and characteristics according to psychology"

Suicide prevention strategies in adolescence

This is an extremely sensitive issue, in which we must act with the greatest possible responsibility and efficiency. As relatives, it is not necessary to fully understand suicidal behavior to be able to respond preventively to the situation, since to do so there are mental health professionals trained in highly effective treatments to care for patients or consultants with this type of tendencies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), among others with strong scientific endorsement. This does not mean that from the place of family or friend nothing can be done to help, quite the contrary. The support network is of vital importance to reverse this situation. The strategies that close people can put into practice in a risk situation are the following:

1. Validate adolescent suffering

This will make her feel that her pain, whatever it is, is acceptable and has a sense of existence. Never tell a person at risk that their problem it's not that bad either he'll get over it. Although there are good intentions behind these phrases, they do not recognize or empathize with the adolescent's suffering, which could aggravate the problem. Instead, it is better to point out that the pain you feel is valid, that by having these unpleasant emotions and thoughts does not mean that you are going crazy, but they are signs that you are going through a difficult time and you need to ask for help professional.

2. Encourage direct communication

Directly ask the adolescent if he has ever considered or is considering suicide. Far from encouraging such behavior, allowing the adolescent to acknowledge her suffering could be the first step towards prevention.

3. Emphasize the urgency of consulting a psychotherapist and/or psychiatrist

If it is detected that a young person is at risk of committing suicide, it is essential that you receive care by a therapist, in a doctor's office, health center or hospital as soon as possible.

4. Accompany in the process

The goal of friends and family is to get the teen into the hands of a professional. They may resist this, so the best way to help is to hold the boy or girl back while You are given access to the space in which you will be treated in order to act as quickly as possible possible. This could include calling the professional on the phone, finding out the hours of operation or being Willing to juggle family routines to ensure adolescent receives treatment appropriate.