Suicide: watch out for these signs
Around 23 people commit suicide everyday in South Africa and there are around 230 suicide attempts.
POLOKWANE – With the recent increase in teen suicides across South Africa, Review spoke to Marthe Viljoen, the Programme Director of Information and Awareness at the South African Federation for Mental Health about teen suicide and statistics thereof.
She says that suicide figures are always a difficult subject due to the fact that suicide is still a taboo subject due to religious beliefs ect and therefore it can be under or misreported. She says that suicide can also sometimes be misreported as an accidental death. “Knowing how many suicides are actually taking place is never easy, but we can definitely say that the current statistics are an under representation of the real amount.”
According to current statistics, around 23 people commit suicide everyday in South Africa and there are around 230 suicide attempts. 9.5% of non-natural deaths in young people are due to suicide.
Marthe says that in young people, most suicides occur in the 15-19 age group, followed by the 10-14 year age group. “The most common suicide methods for young people are hanging, poisoning (including overdose with medication), gassing, use of firearms and fenestration (jumping from high places). In cases where death doesn’t occur, overdose and self-lacerations are most common.” She goes on further to say that among the youth, girls are more likely to commit suicide than boys
“Suicide is an important issue in SA however, especially under young people, as our suicide rate for children between 10-14 years old has more than doubled over the last fifteen years.”
Here are some important numbers to know:
Suicide Crisis Line – 0800 567 567 or SMS 31393
SADAG Mental Health Line – 011 234 4837
Police – 10111
Netcare – 015 291 1557
ER24 – 015 291 3352
