Mental health problems in adolescents: One suicide every eleven minutes

Status: 05.10.2021 02:03 a.m.

According to UNICEF, mental illnesses among adolescents are on the rise: around 46,000 ten to 19 year olds worldwide commit suicide every year. Experts call for quick countermeasures.

By Antje Passenheim, ARD-Studio New York

The numbers are more than alarming, says study co-author Zeinab Hijazi. Every seventh adolescent between the ages of ten and 19 worldwide lives with a diagnosed mental disorder, according to the UNICEF study. These include behavioral problems, anxiety disorders and depression, some of which are so severe that those affected do not survive them.

As a result, a young person dies every eleven minutes, says the UNICEF mental health expert: “Almost 46,000 young people take their own lives every year. In the 15 to 19 age group, this is one of the five most common causes of death.” More often, young people die only from traffic accidents, tuberculosis or acts of violence.

One in four feels depressed in Germany

In the survey in 21 countries, one in five young people between the ages of 15 and 24 stated that they often feel depressed or have few interests. In Germany, this is what one in four of the respondents said. The consequences of the Covid pandemic are apparently the tip of an iceberg that existed before, warns UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

Due to the nationwide lockdowns and the pandemic-related restrictions, children would have spent formative parts of their lives isolated from friends, playmates and relatives. But damage also left indirect consequences of the pandemic, says Hijazi: “The increase in poverty, humanitarian emergencies, but also domestic violence. All of this contributes to psychological stress on children.”

Not a purely medical problem

In many countries, the topic is still hushed up to this day because it has a flaw. This also makes it more difficult to collect better and more reliable data, says the expert. In some of the world’s poorest countries, governments spend less than $ 1 per person on average on treating mental illness.

UNICEF calls on all governments to invest more money in caring for those affected and in preventive measures. “The report calls for mental health no longer to be seen solely as a medical task, but for the educational and social sectors to be held accountable,” says Hijazi.

Open schools again

Schools are of particular importance in this regard. UNICEF has long warned that they should be reopened as soon as possible after the Covid break. Almost a third of schools around the world are still partially or completely closed. As a result, girls and boys are denied access to education and other important support.

If you are suicidal yourself, please seek help immediately. At the anonymous telephone counseling you will find contact persons around the clock. Telephone numbers of the telephone counseling: 0800/111 0 111 and 0800/111 0 222 www.telefonseelsorge.de

UNICEF report: Every 7th young person has mental health problems

Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, October 4, 2021 10:55 p.m.

source site