Teen-age suicide rate at odds with New Zealand image

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 18

Teen-age suicide rate at odds with New Zealand image

By

PAMELA GRAHAM

NZPA-Reuter Wellington New Zealand has long been the destination for those searching for a better life for themselves and their children. With its rolling green outdoors, tiny population and slow pace of life,.it was always seen as a great place to grow up. But a rising teen-age suicide rate cracks that image. Suicide is the secondbiggest killer of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 24. “The suicide rate for young New Zealand men is nearly three times higher than their counterparts in England and Wales,” said Dr Max Abbott, director of the Mental Health Foundation. It is slightly below the United States rate. Dr Abbott said studies of hospital admissions in 1987 showed one in 500 teepagers attempted sui-

cide. ' “This is a very conservative figure because a lot are not reported,” he said. “It is certainly a major health problem.” A Health Department study entitled “Suicide Risk and Prevention” said it was not abnormal for teenagers to think about killing themselves. “During adolescence ... there is an increase in physical and emotional activity ... moods swing, and their behaviour becomes extreme,” the report said. Mr Barry Taylor, who works on a National Youth Council programme to combat the problem, said that besides the normal pressures all teenagers faced, a major factor was increasing economic pressure. The severe economic restructuring since 1984 designed to beat inflation and repay foreign debt has been accompanied by

increased unemployment. "Unemployment is a major factor ... young people are constantly being told they are dolebludgers and they lose ... self-worth,” Mr Taylor said. Labour Department figures put unemployment in July at 8.9 per cent, up from 6.6 per cent a year ago. Numbers of jobless as a proportion of the population are still low by world standards, but New Zealanders are not accustomed to extensive unemployment. School-leavers with poor qualifications have found few opportunities in the tightening employment market and the national trend masks large regional disparities. The Rev. Charles Waldegrave, a worker with the Anglican Church family services, said he believed there was a link between unemployment

and suicide. “New Zealand is a great place to grow up in if you are in the top 60 per cent of incomes,” he said. “It is not if you are in the bottom 30 per cent.” Suicide was contagious.

“There is a real phenomenon we call the suicide virus,” Mr Taylor said. “If one person in a group of friends does it, it is likely another will try it.”

“It is a difficult area to deal with,” Mr Abbott said.

The National Youth Council established a youth mental health programme last year in response to the rising suicide rate. Its aim was to promote mental health among young New Zealanders. It includes training programmes for youth leaders and courses on coping with stress.

Lack of support has b<en a problem. Mr Tay-

lor said he knew of only one Wellington psychiatrist specialising in adolescent problems. According to the Mental Health Foundation, the number of suicides in the male age-group of 15 to 19 has increased to 15 to 16 per 100,000 people in the early 1980 s against about three per 100,000 in the 19605. In the age-group 20 to 24, male suicides increased to between 27 and 28 per 100,000 from about six per 100,000 in the 19605. Although the numbers are small, in a country with a population of only 3.3 million the rising trend is disturbing. “I still believe New Zealand is a good place to grow up in,” Mr Taylor said. “But we are not recognising that young people are, suffering.”