Adolescents at risk: causes of youth suicide in New Zealand

Adolescence, Winter, 1997 by Wilhelmina J. Drummond

The most common problem found was lack of services and resources. The main options are psychiatric units and hospitals, and there is a need for youth-oriented alternatives such as safe houses, youth refuges, therapy groups, daycare, and more outpatient services. Telephone services, particularly Youthline, continue to be important. Also identified was the training of workers in the areas of suicide detection, intervention, and post-crisis support. A partnership between mental health professionals and the community was recommended.

The status report on suicide and parasuicide in the Auckland region (Fanslow & Norton, 1994) presented an overview of current prevention initiatives, which included workshops for training in youth suicide risk assessment and intervention sponsored by the Ministry of Health and the Health Workforce Development Fund. There are also training programs for prison officers related to suicide risk assessment. For individuals who have overdosed on prescription drugs, the medicine control officer contacts the prescribing doctor to discuss the case. Advocacy groups, the Mental Health Foundation, and the AIDS Foundation have launched an information campaign on the warning signs for suicide. Community groups continue their work through crisis telephone lines, Lifeline, and Action Education. They also conduct role plays, seminars and support meetings.

Cultural issues also have to be addressed, particularly with regard to the Maori concept of mental health, a different model from that of the West. Adolescents from Asia will no doubt need special attention, considering their special risk factors.

Making the public aware of the problem is at least a beginning for solving the problem of adolescent suicide. Further steps to educate both adolescents and youth workers must more directly address the expressed needs of young people. The model of Antoniades for prevention is appropriate for the New Zealand situation, and Taylor's call for action is important if more young lives are to be saved.

REFERENCES

Aldridge, V. (1994). The horror statistics of suicide. The Dominion, July, p. 11.

Antoniades, N. (1988). Suicide risk and prevention: A study of New Zealand coroners' files. Wellington: Department of Health.

Baumeister, R. (1986). Identity: Cultural change and the struggle for self. New York: Oxford University Press.

Beautrais, A., Joyce, P., & Mulder, R. (1994). The Canterbury suicide project: Aims, overview and progress. Community Mental Health in New Zealand, 8(2), 22-29.

Blos, P. (1976). The second individuation process of adolescence. In The psychoanalytic study of the child (Vol. 22). New York: International Universities Press.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531.

Cogan, C., & Norton, R. (1994). Reducing self-directed harm among young people: A public health approach. Community Mental Health in New Zealand, 8(2), 26-31.

Disley, B. (1994). Suicide prevention initiatives: Youth suicide - The world and New Zealand wide picture. Community Mental Health in New Zealand, 8(4), 5-11.