The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on suicide attacks among children and adolescents comparison of statistics from 2013-2021. Prophylaxis of suicidal behavior among children and adolescents

Abstract

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), 800,000 people a year die for themselves worldwide. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents in many countries. Research conducted by organizations such as WHO or IASP (International Association for Suicide Prevention) and, according to the data of the Polish Police Headquarters, show that there is an upward trend in suicide behavior worldwide. The social factors of suicidal behavior include the issues of: isolation and social support, suicides in agricultural regions, ties to war, ties with religion, suicides in prisons or the impact of unemployment on suicides. Personal factors include individual susceptibility to suicidal behavior: the feeling of hopelessness, memory distortion and other factors that compose the psychological approach as a whole. Taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic that has prevailed for 2 years and the war taking place just outside our country, in Poland in 2020 and 2021 a significant increase in suicidal behavior among children and adolescents was noticed. Nevertheless, Poles are still not aware of the problem of suicidal behavior in the country, if only because there are still few social campaigns that consciously and appropriately address this problem. Suicide is still a socially embarrassing problem, and the preparation of a wider-ranging initiative on this issue requires not only financial outlays, but also detailed substantive studies.