A Bloomberg report on Thursday (October 17) quoted an American government report saying that suicides surpassed homicides for US teens and young adults in 2010, and the gap continues to grow. “In 2017, suicide was the second leading cause of death, behind accidents, for all young age groups—10-14, 15-19, and 20-24—reaching a record high in 2017,” according to the Center for Disease Control. From 2007 to 2017, the suicide rate among people between 10 and 24 in the US increased by 56 percent.
The World Health Organization said suicide is a global phenomenon. Close to 800,000 people take their own life every year, which is one suicide every 40 seconds.
Reviewing the WHO Global Health Observatory data repository, the Philippines had the following age-standardized suicide rates per population of 100,000. (“Age-standardized” means the suicide data from different countries undergo a technique to allow populations to be compared when their age profiles are quite different.) WHO data showed that from 2000 to 2016, the suicide rate among Filipino males rose from 4.5 to 5.2. During the same period, the suicide rate among Filipino females increased from 1.8 to 2.3. There is no data available from 2017 onwards, but the number of recent suicides in the news point to an increasing suicide rate in both males and females, with the suicide rate among Filipino males consistently higher.
There is increasing evidence that the Internet and social media can influence suicide-related behavior. In January, the children’s commissioner for England has accused social-media companies of losing control of the content carried on their platforms, telling them that recent teen suicides should be a “moment of reflection” for the way they operate. In an open letter to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat, Anne Longfield said the suicide of 14-year-old Molly Russell has highlighted the “horrific” material that children were able to easily access online.
In May, a 16-year-old girl has reportedly killed herself in Malaysia, after posting a poll on her Instagram account asking followers if she should die or not, and 69 percent of responders voted that she should. Her death prompted a lawyer to suggest that those who voted for her to die could be guilty of abetting suicide.
The case in Malaysia raised serious questions about the impact of online bullying, and whether technology companies are doing enough to protect vulnerable users. This prompted suicide prevention organizations to mount a campaign on what should you do if you see someone posting about taking his/her life. If you think someone you know is in immediate danger, you should call the emergency services for help. “A lot of social-media platforms will reach out to users if they post things that suggest they could be in danger,” says Dr. Lucy Biddle, a medical sociology lecturer at the University of Bristol who has researched suicide-related Internet use. She recommends reporting posts you’re concerned about so the platform can contact the poster and let them know where they can go for help.
Instagram said: “We have a deep responsibility to make sure people using Instagram feel safe and supported. As part of our own efforts, we urge everyone to use our reporting tools and to contact emergency services if they see any behavior that puts people’s safety at risk.” On the app, you can tap the three-dot icon and then select “report.”
In a paper published in Journal of the American
Medical Association, Harvard University’s Oren Miron, a bioinformatics
specialist, noted that increases in social-media use, anxiety, depression and
self-inflicted injuries may be contributing to the increase in youth suicides.
Sadly, there are no effective prevention strategies. Parents, relatives and friends,
however, can help. This also highlights the need for a comprehensive
multisectoral suicide
prevention strategy.