Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T22:45:58.111Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Forensic data on adolescents who died by suicide in Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

A. Paraschakis
Affiliation:
Department Of General Adult Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of Attica “Dafni”, Athens, Greece
V. Karageorgiou
Affiliation:
2nd Department Of Psychiatry, “attikon” General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
I. Kourtesis*
Affiliation:
Department Of General Adult Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of Attica “Dafni”, Athens, Greece
I. Boyokas
Affiliation:
Piraeus Department Of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, Piraeus, Greece
I. Michopoulos
Affiliation:
2nd Department Of Psychiatry, “attikon” General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction

Suicide is the second most common cause of adolescent mortality worldwide.

Objectives

To study the characteristics of a sample of adolescents (<18years of age) who died by suicide in Greece.

Methods

We investigated all suicides that took place within the area of the Piraeus Department of Forensic Medicine (population covered ~700,000) for the period 1992-2016, based on the victims’ forensic records.

Results

During the 25-year period, 16 adolescents (and 1162 adults) died by suicide. They were mostly males (11/68.75%) and of Greek Nationality (14/87.5%). The mean age was 15.56 years (range: 12-17, standard deviation: 1.46). Two (12.5%) were under psychiatric medication (an antipsychotic and an antidepressant, respectively); none was receiving a benzodiazepine or a mood-stabilizing antiepileptic. None had used amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine or heroin. Two (12.5%) -one girl one boy- had consumed alcohol. The suicides took place primarily at home (12/75%), followed by outdoors (3/18.75%); one (6.25%) took place in a correctional facility. Hanging was the most prevalent method (6/37.5), followed by jumping (5/31.25%), shooting by a firearm (2/12.5%), drowning (1/6.25%), medication overdose (1/6.25% -amitriptyline poisoning) and a case of suffocating death (1/6.25%). Most suicides happened in September (5/31.25%) and April (3/18.75%). No significant differences were noted with the adult sample.

Conclusions

The methods chosen by the adolescents who died by suicide in our sample differ strikingly from those of usual suicide attempts at that age (medication overdose/self-cutting). The periods when the suicides took place may imply a role for school stress. Our study was retrospective and focused primarily on a large urban area.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.