On the verge of death: a suicidal problematic in adolescents

Most of the population in Mexico is young, therefore, it is necessary to at tend the mental health problems of this group. There is a very dangerous gr owing phenomenon particularly among young people: suicide. In 1992 there we re 522 suicides among 15 to 24 years old youngsters; in 1995 the number wen t up to 958. It has been observed almost all over the world that men commit suicide more than women (three men per one woman), while women attempt it more frequently. Besides these differences there are others regarding the m ethods used: men tend to use hanging or fire arms and women prefer taking s ubstances. This information made us apply the gender approach to obtain a s atisfying explanation for these variations; it suggests considering emotion al disorders as a constitutive issue going beyond the usual dispute between health and insanity, because it involves the notion of gender psychopathol ogy. The main objective of this report is to give a panoramic view of the s uicidal behavior in adolescent population through investigations carried ou t in Mexico in this regard, considering it as an important mental health to pic. Another purpose is to show the research guidelines developed by the Me xican Institute of Psychiatry. Research work on suicide in adolescents bega n in 1987, and so far there are ten reports of the results of those investi gations. Seven were developed by other institutions, from 1955 to 1998, con sidering only the ones reported in the data sources used for this paper. Ha ving this view in mind, the problem from a psychosocial approach is to encl ose possible relations with other elements that may help to obtain a full u nderstanding of this phenomenon and to identify the potential risks and pro tective factors. It has been reported that family environment is one of the main risk factors for men. In women, besides a disfunctional environment, stress from feeling devaluated within its peer group, low self-esteem, bad communication with their mother and isolation in stressful situations also are risk factors. The results of diverse researches show the necessity to u ndertake more applied investigations for designing and evaluating preventiv e programs for suicidal behavior in populations that formerly were not cosi dered in great danger. It is also important to point out that effective men tal health services for children and adolescents, including early detection and prevention programs, would positively help dealing with this problem.