The head of the Mental Health and Addictions area of the Municipality, Hugo Kern, spoke today with The Compass 24 after another case of a teenager who committed suicide on Wednesday night in this city. “The case that calls us today to continue thinking is the premature death of young people and adolescents that in general, when you look at the statistics, mostly what happens is that deaths and disabilities are caused by external causes. It is not caused by organic diseases but by accidents or suicides. Suicides are the second leading cause of death in adolescence,” Kern said, warning that teen suicide “is a serious problem.”
“In Bahía Blanca, the Deliberative Council has been working for some time. There is a project called Red de Vida and a series of devices that aim to work on prevention when possible. One thing is the attempt or the attempt and another the consummated suicide. When the attempt occurs to the point of reaching a hospital guard, there is a report where we are notified of the situation and there is a team that communicates with the family or with the adolescent in order to follow up in the following days. and make sure that the adolescent or his family have access to some type of treatment because the main risk factor for suicide is the previous attempt. Other situations fall into the order of unpredictability. That is why you have to be very cautious because there are also doubtful or accidental situations”, he specified.
Before the consultation made in the program “It’s never too late”Kern gave an account of the warning signs that must be taken into account.
“The warning signs in the mental health of an adolescent have to do with a sudden change in behavior; the ways in which sadness and worry are manifested that are not manifested in the same way as in an adult. In adolescents they are different, assuming risky, confrontational, disruptive behaviors, drug use and, above all, isolation behaviors. Girls have other forms of manifestation because gender identity is decisive in our culture. Both groups are highly affected by social relationships. You have to be aware of bullying, aggression between peers, lack of communication and other issues that are sometimes relativized and are not taken into account, ”she mentioned.
An adolescent, explained the professional, from psychology is understood as a person between 14 and 24 years of age.
“It is important that there is a care environment that can accompany them and listen, not from overprotection because it is not the way to go either. The adolescent has to assume her responsibilities and decisions with the accompaniment of the adult, and setting the limits that are necessary. When we talk about prevention, we talk about accompanying, about caring,” she said.
And later –he added- we talk about post-vention, “which is when a suicide occurs, the family, the colleagues are affected. The duel is complicated and there are a lot of problems that arise from this situation.
Kern warned that in his field of work there is much concern about the consequences of the pandemic on children between the ages of 13 and 15.