Young people and suicide

ChildLine has published a spotlight report on child suicide which shows a worrying increase in the number of children and young people contacting them about suicidal feelings.

Key findings from the report include that:

• ChildLine provided almost 35,000 counselling sessions about suicide last year, with 5,800 sessions with children who had attempted suicide;
• There has been a 116 percent increase in counselling session about suicide over the last three years;
• The most common age to contact ChildLine about suicide is 12 to 15 years but more and more younger children are seeking help about this;
• Many young people struggle with the burden of supporting a friend or family member with suicidal thoughts;
• In a fifth of cases young people had not told anyone else about their suicidal feelings;
• Young people self harm instead of talking about their feelings or as a way to distract themselves from suicidal thoughts;
• Many talked about other mental health problems; and
• The internet was use by children to seek help and advice, but also to research suicide or self-harm, and some experienced online bullying and abuse.

To download the full report visit www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/research-and-resources/on-the-edge-childline-spotlight.