Last year, 250 suicides were committed in Latvia. Is it a lot or a little? Psychotherapist Nils Sachs Konstantinov recommends using the ratings “a lot” and “little” by comparing them to the number of people, for example, the number of suicides per 100,000 people. What is the situation in Latvia in this terrible area – a conversation with Nilas Saks Konstantinov.
Where does Latvia rank in terms of the number of suicides?
One of the worst in the world. Above us is Lithuania. If you look at it in the context of the world, then it is Japan. But basically we are at the top of the world chart.
What is the reason for such a negative top?
There are two questions. First of all, why do so many people decide to take such a step? Secondly, why exactly in Latvia, in percentage terms, so many people decide to commit suicide? There is no clear answer to the first question. Legal, so-called assisted suicides are also on the rise. But they are not counted among the other suicides. Therefore, the numbers could be even higher.
We live in a time when we consider problems of the psyche, emotional and mental sphere as psychiatric problems. But when we talk about suicides, psychiatry is the least able to explain this phenomenon.
Sociologist Durkheim studied how suicides differed between Catholics and Protestants. The difference is not about a disease, but about society. Catholics had a significantly lower suicide rate than Protestants. Some of the versions: Catholics are more tightly knit, while Protestants are more industrious and therefore wealthier. In addition, Catholics have a much greater condemnation of suicide. But what is clear is that suicide is a social act. Many people think: if a person has depression, if he had started treatment in time, everything would be fine. It’s not like that! Psychiatry has not helped reduce the number of suicides. In America, the psychiatry of society has occurred, it seems, most of all with people being medicated.
Statistics show that men in Latvia commit suicide most often between the ages of 40 and 50.
Some unusual facts. Because you might think that suicide the highest numbers are usually among the young and old. People commit suicide for very specific reasons. Mental health is one of the rarest reasons. Men usually commit suicide for two reasons: financial reasons or relationship reasons. Too bad no one has seen fit to collect this data. Reasons can be fast loans, gambling debts. Another one: the wife left. Latvian men are most often unable to solve these problems. Latvia has one of the largest numbers of divorced families. Our society is one of the most feminine societies, therefore, men do not “reach” the solution of problems that women have. Most of the time, the man only sees a dead end.
The number of so-called completed suicides is higher among men, and more suicide attempts among women. Men use more radical techniques.
Suicide is communication, it is a gesture. Women most often use such gestures to communicate – they are sick, they need support. Men are less willing to receive support and accept suicide as a solution to the problem. You can also get help if a person starts talking about suicide: this can be seen among young people. But there are huge queues to talk to a psychologist, but it is often difficult to get through that queue. It remains to eat some pills, then it will be faster. But this means that such a situation is being escalated.
Then we already have too few specialists who could help in such situations.
No. Specialists are the least likely to help there. We see no reduction in suicide rates in countries with the most comprehensive psychiatric care. What’s more: this help may increase the number of suicides. In America, it is written on some medicine packages that this medicine can increase the tendency to commit suicide.
Then it turns out that it is impossible to reduce the number of suicides.
Primarily, one should think about the structure of society. The most effective way is to reduce the reasons for suicide. Norway has one of the highest rates of youth suicide. Norwegians are great hunters. If a youngster got “psyched out” at home, it was very easy for him to grab his father’s hunting gun and shoot himself. The Norwegians passed a law that the gun must be kept in a locked safe. This intervention succeeded in rapidly reducing this problem. That was a problem, but not anymore. This means that solutions should not be sought only in the medical system alone.
In the case of Latvia, we need to think about how to help a person who does not understand what to do with his life now: maybe think more not about increasing the number of psychiatrists, but about specialists in financial aid issues.
But there are already such intangible things, such as loneliness, the feeling of not being needed and the like.
The same Durkheim again. He concluded that Protestants are lonelier and throughout society families are getting smaller and smaller, people are living more and more alone. But we in Latvia have good experience with the folk dance collective and choir movement, where people come together in adulthood, compensating for the fact that family structures have broken up, they do something together. In my opinion, supporting Latvian choirs and dance groups is more a matter of health, less of national culture. Singing in a choir improves mental health.
Can medications, pills help teenagers who want to commit suicide?
The short answer is: no. If we lock a person in a cell or a ward where they are observed, that does not solve the problem in any way. The reasons for suicide among teenagers are much different. They do not commit suicide for financial reasons. If social-emotional screenings are carried out at school, asking about suicides, then – if teenagers have not had such ideas – we give them the impression that this is one of the solutions to get rid of some other, for example, emotional problems. Life is “hard” for everyone as a teenager, and we all need support.
But we as a society have legitimized the issue of self-harm and suicide to interpret our ‘insurmountable’ problems. It is normal for teenagers to have suicidal thoughts. But realizing them – these are rare cases.
Adolescents’ and children’s thoughts about suicide also do not arise out of nothing. Can adults even notice changes in a child’s or teenager’s behavior?
The most common reason for a child or teenager’s behavior is events at school. According to European statistics, the number of suicides among children and teenagers increases precisely during school hours, not during holidays. And there is only one effective thing that can be done against these suicidal thoughts: reduce bullying in schools and help those who have been bullied. Let’s not hide it, one other teacher is also mobbing. Young people spend 80% of their lives at school. Of course, it is difficult to detect changes in adolescent behavior because there is no tool or method for understanding which youth will actually commit suicide. Just the same with adults: whether a particular person is depressed or in crisis, and there is no method in the world to select those who will actually attempt suicide. About ten percent of young people probably think about suicide and self-harm, but one or two people will actually do it.
In the 1990s there was a sharp increase in the number of suicides: was it due to the deterioration of economic conditions?
Absolutely. Economic conditions are one of the most common causes of suicide. This was the case in Latvia and all over the world. Many people’s lives fell apart. When the United States was in crisis in the 1930s, one of the highest suicide rates in the world was recorded. For adults – especially men – the question of money is one of the most important. Most people think that they have to take care of their family, so – if you can’t take care of it – you’re nothing. Sometimes men believe that the family will be better off without them.
What can indicate the seriousness of an adult’s suicidal intent? Pre-death letter? Accumulated medications? No chance that someone will help him? Avoiding contact with other people?
If these things are noticed, then they are huge red flags. A person writes a farewell letter, tries to get rid of possessions, for example, by giving them to someone. However, in most cases, people do not write farewell letters, they try to do their last work quietly. In any case – when we feel that something is wrong with a person, even more so – if we know this person well, we can understand that we need to help. In addition, it is not necessary to necessarily focus only on suicide, because people can have different misfortunes.
Suicide is a huge problem and most of it could be prevented. But keep in mind that they have always been there and for many people it is their terrible choice. And we will never be able to stop everyone from reducing suicide to zero. We can’t all blame ourselves: I didn’t notice something, so I didn’t do anything. But man has decided so, and we must respect this choice. Whatever that choice is…
