Suicidal Behaviours in Children, Adolescent & Homoeopathy

What makes a child or adolescent to commit suicide? It has multiple reasons. The recent data and survey carried out by child help lines in nine of the world’s highest ranking Human Development Index (HDI) nations, show that children and adolescent in developed nations and developing nations are highly prone to boredom, high study and job pressure and hence have higher suicidal tendencies.
According to world Health Organization Assistant Director-General Catherine Le Gals-Camus points out more people die from suicide around the world than from all homicides and wars combined. There is increase in the rates of suicide in India over the years. Teenage suicides have become an almost daily occurrence in Mumbai the capital city of Maharashtra – one of India’s most developed states. The toll of teenage suicides from the beginning of the year until 26 January 2010 stood at 32, which is more than one a day. The survey data indicates that for every teenage suicide in Mumbai there are 13 failed attempts. During the past twenty years, the number of suicides has tripled among those between the ages of 15 and 29 [1].
In U.S. reports more than 5,000 teen suicides a year; in 1996, Los Angeles teachers and counselors identified as many as 2,000 suicidal children. One out of every twelve high school teenagers attempted suicide in 1995.30% of teenagers have thought about suicide. For every teenager that actually commits suicide, there are another 50-200 attempts. The American Association of Suicidology estimates that every hour and 40 minutes, a young person kills himself.

Normal biological functioning of a child is partly determined by environment he is living in. When a child grows up with fears and constant or extreme stress then normal development of his response systems becomes weak. Later on, even under ordinary levels of stress his systems may automatically respond as if the individual is under extreme stress. When exposed to minute stressful situations will respond as if to a significant threat which is often perceived by others as “overreacting”.
Children with histories of complex trauma may show more chronic physical & mental conditions and problems. Adolescence with histories of mental trauma in childhood may show behavioral changes and indulge in conditions like smoking, alcohol & drug abuse.
These children often have difficulty in identifying, expressing, and managing emotions. They often hide stress reactions because they don’t even trust loved ones and as a result may experience significant depression, anxiety, or anger. Having learned that the world is a dangerous place full of stress and where even loved ones can’t be trusted to protect them ,this makes the child often vigilant and guarded in their interactions with others and may exhibit unpredictable or explosive emotional responses like violence or suicidal . These suicidal thoughts are because their posture is always defensive posture i.e. protective as if he is under an attack, and his response in such condition will be intense reactions making them vulnerable to take extreme steps because they have never learned how to calm themselves down once they are upset. These children are never calm but always in a stressful posture as if always alert.

A family history of depression and suicidal tendencies can pass down through genetics. It can be inherited by children from parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents either from the mother or father’s side.

The question is. Is the present modern education system driving youth to stress, depression and suicide? Suicide is a process, not an event. It evolves gradually. In young children & adolescents suicidal tendencies build up very slowly from social conditions. There is growing competition in every sphere of life even in school which increases stress among children and eventually leads to the development of fatal tendencies like depression & suicide The stress inflicting the education system in India is one of the cause of concern in suicidal tendencies in children .The modern education system was oriented to gaining skills such as reading, writing, convergent thinking, numerical aptitude. It was aimed only for increasing productivity and not for encouraging wisdom, confidence, warm-heartedness and life-dealing skills. Western system is materialistic and they feel that material prosperity is the sole cause of happiness. Today’s educational system does not provide value education. India’s education system is based on memorizing without thought of the meaning and with a strong emphasis on scoring high marks.
Education in India has become very competitive. In today’s India, there is a persisting fear among the youth, the fear of competition. Difficult admission procedures in top educational institutions as well as tough teaching syllabus. Even a six-year-old child who is supposed to be fearlessness and cheerfulness worries about exams. Come exams and hundreds of students surrender their youthful enthusiasm to the fear of examinations. The insecurity of falling below the cut-off leads into depression and to a tragic end called suicide.
Psychologists say that a child’s strongest emotional bond is with parents. Parents rationalize this emotional bond by making children perform under immense pressure. Parents push their children up as per their ambitions and do not look at the ability and condition of their children mental performance. Children are forced to study what their parents want them to study. The consequence of this over ambition of parents leads to stress, anxiety, frustration and despair in children at early tender age, and they are unable to meet the expectations of their parents. Failure in examinations and condemnation by family in such situations break these children emotionally and lead to depression in early age. Majority of students does not how to deal with this stress and this is one of the reasons a child contemplates suicide because he thinks he is the only person who has ever had those feelings and problems. Their inability to accept failure or loss in self esteem leads to dejection, self reproach and this ultimately leads to suicide.

According to the World Health Organization, if stress level is not controlled then depression is the No 1 occupational disease of the 21st century. In recent time due to economic growth and open markets there is more job opportunities, higher payments and with it job stress & anxiety. Higher expectations by employer put more pressure on the employee &leads to tremendous anxiety & fears. Corporate employees have more job stress .A survey released recently by the US-based Regus group, a corporate consultancy, found that 57% of Indians thought that their stress levels had become higher, or much higher, since 2007. It is observed that 6 in every 10 corporate employees in India experience stress at their work place. There is always fear lingering in a person mind of losing one’s job or not being competitive enough to advance in one’s career . In corporate sector especially IT professionals usually show signs of stress related psychiatric disorder. These professionals get addicted to drugs. 1 in every 20 IT professional contemplates suicide, says the study [2].

Internet and mobile culture is promoting a isolated community. More time is spent on social networks. A meaningful personal relationship with friends, family members and relatives is replaced by social networks such as face book, WhatsApp and other social sites. Youth and children are living in the isolated virtual world. They are only involved with gadgets which gives them company and no social contacts. Too much addiction to internet and self-centered approach often aggravates their isolated life. A teen in this age of social networking gets isolated and live a solitary life. This isolated life is a very important reason for the rise in suicide among young people. They don’t get any moral and emotional support from any one. They don’t have any near ones to express their problems and does not get a proper advice. They easily lose confidence in life and hopelessness is one of the most crucial factors in the development of their serious suicidal thought. They are not mature enough to analyze things themselves. They think their problems are insoluble and suicidal thoughts come to them through despair.
Broken homes and unconcerned parents is other main cause of mental trauma and depression in them. Because of the high divorce rate in modern society children either misses their fathers or mothers love & protection. When these stressful situations arise, an emotionally fragile child or adolescent may go into a deep bout of depression, which intensifies the chances of thinking about or attempting suicide. The children of working mothers feel isolated, abundant, and uncared at early age. Millions of children come home from school to empty houses. Television has now become the babysitter [2,3].

Dr. Jay Nagdimon, the director of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center believes that another strong influence facilitating suicide is community violence: “Movies are violent, television is violent, music is violent, and sports are violent. By our obsession with violence, we make death seem easy. Even a kid can do it.” Violent television shows can be scary and confusing to young children due to the mixed messages they send.

In 75% of all suicides there will be a verbal warning or some sign. Unfortunately these verbal warning signs mostly ignored since most parents never expect their child will attempt suicide [4].
The LAUSD Suicide Prevention Unit identifies the following as signs that a young person is at risk:
Depression
Feelings of hopelessness
Loss of interest in activities
Previous suicide attempts
Sudden changes in behavior, eating or sleeping habits or relationships with friends. Statements such as “I want to kill myself” or “The world would be better off without me.”
Increase in risk taking writing or drawing about death themes.
Using alcohol or drugs

Giving away prized possessions
Withdrawing from social activities
Feelings of hopelessness
History of previous suicide attempts
History of depression or other mental illness
Stressful life event or loss

Aurum metallicum 

Magnesium carbonicum

Magnesium muriaticum

Natmur

Ignatia 

Family is the unit of society. It is the strength and the stability of the nation. It’s also a center of social force. In home there should be atmosphere of love, care, concern, sacrifice, trust and respect. Parents should provide their children with discipline, encouragement, praise, support, security and not condemnation & discouragement. This is the only solution for healthy mental condition of future generation and prevention of self-destruction. The present education system must be over-hauled. Presently, the exams, marks and percentage do not test a student’s abilities, skills, emotional intelligence and aptitude. Research has demonstrated that the most effective way to prevent suicide is through the early identification and treatment of those at risk. Homoeopathy treatment can prevent suicidal tendencies in children & adolescence, if its detect at appropriate time.
References

• World Health Organization.Global Burden of Disease.
• Hans D (2010) Depressive & Suicidal Tendencies – Understanding & Overcoming.
• expertsIndianexpress.com/news/suicidal-tendencies
• http://www.childrenshospital.org/health-topics/conditions/suicide-and-teens

 
Author: Dr Suhail Shiekh
Source: file:///C:/Users/abhakumar/Desktop/suicidal-behaviours-in-children-adolescent-2167-1206.1000154.pdf