Dealing with a young person's suicide
There is widespread concern
about suicide among young people today. This page is designed to
help you understand why some young people may want to take their
lives and how Samaritans can help.
Useful self-harm resources to
help young people, parents, families and education
professionals were assessed in our Step by Step project.
1. How many young people die
by suicide?
Suicide forms a high
proportion of all deaths among young people and is often described
as ‘a leading cause of death’. After accidents (including transport
accidents), suicide was the second leading cause of death among
15-19 year old females (13% of deaths) and males (19% of deaths) in
England and Wales in 2008.
- On average, 4 young people
aged 10-19 die by suicide each week in the UK and Republic of
Ireland.
- At all ages, more males
than females die by suicide. However, the differences are
smaller for 10-14 year olds than among people aged 15 and
over.
- Suicide rates for young
people aged 15-24 in the UK and Republic of Ireland are not usually
higher than rates for older age groups or the whole population
(apart from Northern Ireland).
As well as those who die by suicide, many more
young people attempt to kill themselves, and even more young people
have suicidal thoughts. Studies have found that:
- 7.3% of young people report attempting suicide at some point in
their life.
- 20-45% of older adolescents report having suicidal thoughts at
some point.
2. Why do young people kill
themselves?
There is no one reason why people take their
own lives. Suicide is a very complex issue and there is a danger in
drawing overly simplistic conclusions about causality. Young
people who kill themselves have often experienced difficulties
building up over a long period of time to the point where they can
see no other way to cope with what they are experiencing. The
following things may increase the risk of suicide:
- Recent loss or the break up of a close
relationship.
- An actual and/or expected unhappy change in
circumstances.
- Painful and/or disabling physical illness.
- Heavy use of, or dependency on, alcohol or
other drugs.
- History of earlier suicide attempts or
self-harming.
- History of suicide in the family.
- Depression.
People who are bereaved by suicide are at
increased risk of serious emotional distress and of themselves
dying by suicide, so could benefit from appropriate emotional
support. It is also important to minimise the potential for
‘imitative’ suicides (sometimes called ‘suicide clusters’, the
‘contagion’ effect or ‘copycat’ suicides).
3. How can Samaritans
help?
Samaritans offers a range of
services to support people who feel suicidal, those who are in
contact with suicidal people, and others who are affected by
suicide.
- Anyone experiencing
emotional distress or despair is welcome to contact Samaritans for
support, including people who self-harm or who are
affected by supporting someone else who self-harms.
Samaritans can be contacted by:
Phone: 08457 90 90 90 (UK), 1850 60 90 90 (ROI)
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Letter:
Chris, P.O. Box 90 90, Stirling FK8 2SA
Face to face: We have 201 branches in the UK and ROI so
find your nearest local
branch.
- Samaritans’
DEAL programme for 14-16 year olds. DEAL (Developing
Emotional Awareness and Learning) provides this age group with the
skills and information to develop positive coping strategies to
deal with difficult life situations. The programme includes lesson
plans on self-harm and other topics, factsheets and supporting DVDs
in which young people talk about their emotional health and
self-harm. Find out more about
DEAL.
- Samaritans’
professional trainers deliver work-based training for groups of
staff who come into contact with people who
self-harm. This day course helps to improve skills and
confidence when working with people who self-harm and is delivered
at the clients’ workplace. Further details are available at
Working with People Who Self-harm.
- Samaritans’ Step by
Step suicide response service enables schools to recover
following an attempted or completed suicide. The service is
currently being piloted in five regions of the UK, where it is
provided by our local network of trained and experienced Samaritans
volunteers who work with schools to deliver appropriate
support.
4. Where can I find out more
about suicide?
Useful self-harm resources to help young
people, parents, families and education professionals were
assessed in our Step by Step
project.