Page - 247 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits 247 for other family members, who often suffer for years on end. Siblings can be greatly disadvantaged in their development through suicide and even become at risk themselves. Suicides are greatly upsetting to the surrounding society, espe- cially in schools and universities, where they can set off waves of attempted or achieved suicides (Anderson 2009, 219ff ). An overview of the extent of suicide worldwide is shown in Figure 6.6. In this graph, we see a dramatic increase in the age group 15 to 30, above all in countries with low and middle incomes, with a figure of 600,000 deaths for ado- lescents, and in the high -income countries almost 200,000 suicides. There is a clear gender -specific difference. Male adolescents between ages 15 and 24 manage to commit suicide much more frequently than do girls in this age group – by a ratio of 3:1. “Hard” methods such as shooting (when firearms are easy to come by) and hanging, which quickly lead to death, are preferred with little chance of being saved when found. Girls most often choose an overdose of some medication, so that they can be saved when discovered. Nevertheless, the rate of suicide attempts is considerably higher – in fact, four times as high – for girls than for boys (Arnett and Hughes 2012, 477). In the last 20 years, focus has been given in the pedagogical and social areas on preventing suicide and suicide attempts. The number of adolescent suicides has fallen – in the UK, by 38% for the age group 10 to 19 between 1997 and 2003. After a crisis intervention center was established in Austria, the suicide rate fell from 28.3 per 100,000 of the population – one of the highest in the world – to 15.6 per 100,000 in 2006; this means a 45% drop (in Vienna, 61%). Presently the suicide rate is 11.8 per 100,000. Taking suicidal thoughts seriously has led to helping potential suicide attempters to get professional help in time (Sonneck et al. 2008, 66). Figure 6.6 Worldwide suicides in relation to age and income (from WHO 2014)