Most Suicide Victims are Teenagers — Psychiatrist

A local psychiatrist said most of the suicide victims were teenagers due to copycat or following what others been done.

Doctor Robert Cañete, Training Officer Medical Specialist II, Department of Behavioral Science at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), said most of the teenagers who committed suicide were loners.

He added that most of them are silent, who can not relate their problems to their close friends and even to family members.

Cañete said some of these suicide ‘victims’ copied what they have observed from others who have abruptly shorten their lives.

“And it is copycat suicide” he said.

One of the basic reasons why they decided to die, its because of being despaired by love, Cañete said. He also stressed that pride is another reason behind any suicide tragedy of teenagers but, he said, this is very seldom.

“Some of those who got suicide due to pride were those who were frustrated when they failed their subjects in school”, Cañete told.

He said others decided to take suicide because of money problems and other common dilemma, which can be cured if the one concerned were being taken cared of by their family members and close friends.

“But the most common are love matters, especially those being left by their lovers and because of that frustration they opted to cut off their life in a brutal way”, Cañete said.

“Some of them dies after jumping off to a deep ravine or water, others use rope to tie around their neck before jumping, there were also some who took poisonous materials ,and other possible motives of suicidal acts”, Cañete said.

Because of the increasing in numbers of suicide incidents here in Central Visayas, the VSMMC is now training people to handle its hot line center which is due to open next month.

Cañete said this center will only entertain reports related to suicide, operating 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

As a psychiatrist, Cañete said that among the symptoms of those who have suicide behavior are silence.

“They are silent, or if they talk, its easy for them to say, I like to die, or other signs of any psychiatric disorder which you can observe they are suffering, and if you can observe such kind of attitude, do not leave alone that person, because the moment they are alone, its easy for them to achieve their suicide mood”, he said.