Characterization of the suicidal behaviour in adolescents

Abstract

Suicide is a dysfunction of the behaviour that causes impulse or desire to die. About 1110 people make suicide and thousands of people make the attempt every day; for each suicide they are carried out about 10 attempts. It was performed a descriptive investigation of the adolescents with suicide attempt and there were admitted at "Mártires del 9 de Abril” university hospital of Sagua la Grande in Villa Clara during the five-year period 2008-2012, with the objective of  characterizing suicide attempt in adolescents. As variables we studied age, sex, municipality of residence, school grade, occupation, method used to commit suicide, and affected conflict sphere. The adolescents with suicide attempt had a 15,9 year- old average; the feminine sex prevailed (81,1%); the average school level was tenth grade; 90,6% of them were students of the general education; the ingestion of pills was the method used by the 92% of adolescents for the suicidal behaviour; the spheres of conflicts that prevailed were the familiar (48,2%) and personal (33,9%). It is concluded that adolescents who commit suicide were in the group of age of 17 and 18 years old; most of them were female with a majority from general education and a mean of tenth grade; most of them used as a method drinking pills and the conflict area that prevailed were family and personal ones.