World Suicide Prevention Day | The objective? Understanding what hurts young people

One hundred and fifteen people took their lives in Aragon during 2021, eight more than the previous year. This is attested to by the latest data published by the Institute of Legal Medicine of Aragon (IMLA) corresponding to the year 2021. By province, they were 77 in Zaragoza, 23 in Huesca and 15 in Teruel. An increasing trend throughout the country, while demands for help do so. This is how they explain it from the Telephone of Hope, where they recognize that this implies that suicide increasingly abandons that taboo part and occupies an important space in the collective imagination.

Today, September 10, is International Suicide Prevention Day. A day in which it is about shedding light on a reality that is still too hidden and needs to be told, analyzed and, above all, shared.

Of the more than 8.200 calls they received in 2021 in Aragon, 300 were related to suicidal ideation or self-harming behavior. 10% of them were young people. “A couple of years ago they barely touched 3%,” says Alberto Hernández, president of the Aragón Telephone of Hope.. One in two has to do with psychological and psychiatric problems, followed by those that address family or relational issues. “In most cases we face scenarios of loneliness and lack of communication (18%), anxiety disorders, obsessions or hysteria (11%), or depression (10%),” she points out.

Another important fact: more and more young people, aware of this reality, They call this and other lines looking for help caring for a friend. In fact, of the total calls made in 2021 in Aragon, 1.900 were preventive: “This, two years ago, did not occur.” In this type of calls, for which time does not exist, treating the caller as an equal is essential.

"We try to put ourselves in their shoes, adapt to their way of understanding the world and communicating.. What they need is to feel identified and, above all, heard,” she warns. To achieve this, a team of 80 volunteers, including psychologists, social workers, lawyers and all types of experts, work tirelessly to develop action protocols to deal with these situations.

Self-harm, a growing phenomenon

Although at the national level, the ANAR Foundation also has a telephone line - and a chat service - to address these pains of the soul that, as stated by Diana Diaz, director of the Help Lines, only grow: “Of the 251.118 calls in Spain in 2021, 9.336 came from Aragon.”

These data confirm an upward trend in suicide among young people and adolescents, with a general increase of more than 1.750% compared to data recorded a decade ago. “Nationally, calls for suicidal ideation and attempts have increased 18-fold, while Self-harm presents a growth rate of 5.500%, that is, it has multiplied by 56. The increase is being very worrying,” he admits.

The objective? Trying to understand what is hurting our young people. In a society marked by virtual and fleeting relationships, which tends towards individualism, loneliness and isolation, at a time when lack of communication and interpersonal relationships through screens reign; young people “are not able to find their place.”

This is the opinion of Jesús Padilla, a psychologist specialized in suicidal and self-injurious behavior at the Professional College of Psychology of Aragon (COPPA) and member of LIANA (Aragonese Association of Suicide and Self-Injurious Behavior), which emphasizes the importance of the family, school and social environment. of the minor: “Talking will always help, especially with respect, active listening and validating what they are feeling.”

What hurts young people

“As a society, we must be vigilant towards warning signs, such as a sudden change in activity level or mood, increased irritability, problems falling asleep or long hours in front of a screen,” highlights the expert. Regarding preventing these types of situations, It is important to create healthy environments, create moments of gathering and, above all, recover those moments as a family.