daniel chigunwe
Ison Ndoro
Herald Correspondent
Suicide among children and the youth is a deeply distressing phenomenon and if recent stories are anything to go by, it will not be long before it becomes a public health crisis in the country.
While suicide is in most cases associated with adults facing mental health challenges such as depression, the rising incidences of suicide involving children as young as nine calls for an urgent need to understand its underlying causes, risk factors, and potential interventions. This article presents critical insights into this tragic trend and offers pathways for prevention.
Trends and statistics
The World Health Organisation(WHO) reports that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds globally.
Depression has been cited as a leading cause self-inflicted harm and suicide among adolescence.
According to Macrotrends ,Zimbabwe is among one of the countries with suicide rates in Africa, with an estimated 14.1 suicides per 100 000 people as of 2019.
This is a 0.71 percent increase from 2018.
UNICEF highlights the impact of socio-economic challenges, including poverty and lack of access to education, on children’s mental health in Zimbabwe.
Theoretical explanations of child suicidality
Suicidality among children can be explored through various psychological theories, that highlight the interplay of social, cognitive, and emotional factors in self-harm and suicidal behaviour.
The Integrated Motivational Volitional (IMV) model of suicidal behaviour suggests that suicide is a process that involves three key stages. These are Pre-Motivational Phase, which includes background factors such as childhood trauma, socio-economic struggles, and genetic predisposition to mental illness.
The Motivational Phase is when a child develops a sense of entrapment due to bullying, parental conflict, abuse, or such other predisposing and precipitating factors leading to thoughts of suicide as an escape.
The Volitional Phase is the presence of enabling factors such as access to lethal means such as poison ,weapons, exposure to suicide cases, or social isolation. These factors increase the likelihood of suicide attempts among children or adults.
Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide also helps explain suicidality in a comprehensive manner.
It expounds that people tend to commit suicide when their belongingness is thwarted and they begin to experience a deep sense of loneliness or feelings of sadness. When children feel ostracised from their families and social support system, or when they feel violated ,chances are that their stress tolerance threshold gets stretched to the limit .
For instance, in December 2024 a sister publication reported that a 15-year-old girl from Bulawayo’s Riverside suburb took her life by consuming poison following a disagreement with her mother over the sale of her laptop.
Despite efforts to save her, she succumbed to the effects of the poison. What could have appeared like a minor dispute escalated into an irreversible tragedy.
The theory also posits that perceived burdensomeness, where children believe that they are a burden to their families and society can potentially trigger them to commit suicide.
This mostly happens in situations where they are blamed for various commissions and omissions. Sometimes parents or carers may communicate with children in a manner that may be construed as unwarranted personal attacks.
When commenting on issues like their academic performance, behaviour, their looks or such other personal attributes, be wary of the potential repercussions of your comments.
Children are still undergoing emotional, cognitive, physical and language development and they may not quite perceive what they hear from the same perspective with adults.
The risk to commit suicide increases when the individual has what Joiner called capability for suicide, this is when a person experiences reductions in fear and pain sensitivity enough to overcome self-preservation reflexes ,in other words the individual’s motivation to commit suicide overcomes any fear or physical pain.
Indicators of possible suicidality in children
There are number of early warning signs that serve as indicators for potential suicidality among children. These include a sudden change in the child’s behaviour.
For instance a child who is normally active becoming withdrawn, irritable or uncharacteristically quiet. Children can also use verbal expressions of loneliness. They can vocalise statements like “I really wish I was not born” or “You will be better off without me”.
Suicidal children can also lose interest in usual activities, exhibit signs of emotional distress, engage in self-harm behaviour or show a decline in cognitive functioning as well as changes in eating and sleeping habits among other signs.
It is incumbent upon adults who spent time with children to be observant and conscious of the early warning signs of suicidality among children. The following strategies can help:
Parents and families
Parents play a fundamental role in preventing child suicide. Creating a nurturing and open environment where children feel safe to express their emotions is essential. Parents should encourage open communication and validate feelings of their children. Not only does this reduce the children’s stress or such other mental health challenges, it also facilitates optimum growth and development. Harsh criticism or punitive parenting approaches are also counterproductive. Most importantly, parents should seek professional help if they identify early warning signs of suicidality.
Teachers and schools
Teachers are in a unique position to observe changes in children’s behaviour and academic performance. Schools should: Implement mental health education programs to teach coping mechanisms, train educators to identify and support at-risk students, establish counselling services for students in distress and create anti-bullying policies to foster a safer school environment.
Other stakeholders such as the Government, non-governmental organisations and churches must also be proactive and responsive to the mental health needs of at-risk children so that preventive measures can be employed to save young lives.
The rise in child suicides is a national crisis that demands urgent attention.
Every child lost to suicide is a tragic reminder of the gaps in mental health care, family support, and societal awareness. A multi-sectoral approach incorporating family, schools, communities, and Government interventions can create an environment where children feel safe, valued, and supported. Breaking the silence around mental health, promoting psychological well-being, and implementing proactive interventions can save lives and ensure that children get to grow into adulthood, thrive and become the next productive generation in this nation.
Ison Ndoro is a forensic psychologist ,he is also an adjunct lecturer of Psychology at the University of Zimbabwe. He writes as an independent social commentator
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