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Relationship with Suicide

Related Studies Suicide rate of adolescents in Hong Kong used to be lower than that in the other age groups. It has been on a rise continuously since the 80’s, and reached a historical peak in 2002. Among the adolescents who died from suicide, over 70% had suffered from at least one kind of mental disorders, including depression, behavioural problem, or drug abuse (Yip et al., 1998). Among form 4 to form 7 students with suicidal thoughts, those with depressive symptoms outnumbered those without by 1.85 times (Yip et al., 2003).
Associated Factors Suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms among adolescents is much attributed to factors such as poor relationships with parents (lack of care and understanding), school pressure, and peer pressure.
Help-Seeking Among the adolescents with serious psychological problems involving depression or suicidality, less than a tenth of them had been given any kind of counselling or social work support. If they were able to seek help earlier, many tragedies could probably have been avoided.
Life Threat Past experiences have told us that negligence to and untreated depression could take one’s life. It must instead be taken with utmost seriousness.
References: Yip, P.S.F., Ho, T..P., Hung, S.F., Laidler, K.J. & Leung, P.W.L. (eds), Youth Suicide in Hong Kong. Befrienders International: Hong Kong. Yip, P.S.F., Liu, K.Y., Lam, T.H., Sunita, M.S. & Chen, E. (2003). Suicidality among high school students in HKSAR. Centre for suicide research and prevention, The University of Hong Kong.