{"id":4577,"date":"2021-02-16T18:28:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T18:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=4577"},"modified":"2021-02-16T17:48:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:48:29","slug":"suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","title":{"rendered":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Durban – As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) encourages parents, teachers and family members to know the warning signs of depression and suicide, and to reach out for help as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

You may know of someone who has lost a loved one due to suicide or you may have lost a dear one yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a myth that depression or suicide does not affect teens or children, in fact it is very real and affects more young people than we know, with teens being a particular high risk for suicide.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepression is the leading cause of suicide, it doesn\u2019t discriminate against age, gender, race, religion or socio-economic background,\u201d says psychiatrist and Sadag board chairperson Dr Frans Korb.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the third leading cause of death in teens aged 15 to 19, and depression is globally the third highest disease burden among adolescents. In South Africa, suicide has become the second leading cause of deaths between the ages of 15 and 24.<\/p>\n

Sadag has seen an increase in the number of calls to the suicide helpline and believes that now more than ever, parents need to connect and engage with their children by asking questions without being judgemental. Listen to understand, get to know what is happening in teens lives, and what they are feeling and thinking.<\/p>\n

If you notice a strange behaviour pattern or any of the warning signs for depression or suicide, speak up before it is too late.<\/p>\n

Teen Suicide Prevention Week is from February 14 to 21, and will once again highlight and create an awareness around teen depression and suicide, especially with pandemic-anxiety and the release of matric results.<\/p>\n

There is still a lot of stigma and fear around suicide, with many parents and teachers afraid that if they talk about suicide to teens, it could cause them to take their life.<\/p>\n

However, Sadag\u2019s operations director, Cassey Chambers, believes that talking about suicide with a young person does not cause them to have thoughts of suicide or kill themselves, but not talking about it can lead to thoughts of suicide turning into actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking about suicide and depression creates an opportunity to discuss feelings and thoughts that might have otherwise remain hidden. Most teens who are thinking about suicide are actually honest and relieved when asked direct questions about their suicide thoughts or feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you notice one warning sign, don\u2019t wait or leave it. Talk today, listen and connect to help \u2013 it could save a life,\u201d says Chambers.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the warning signs to look out for:<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Your teen is talking about suicide or death \u2013 possibly writing or drawing about death and dying, or posting pictures, quotes or messages on social media.<\/p>\n

2. Saying things like: \u201cEveryone would be better off if I was dead\u201d or \u201cI wish I wasn\u2019t here anymore\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t want to be here anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n

3. Giving away personal possessions.<\/p>\n

4. Signs of depression such as moodiness, hopelessness, withdrawal, drastic change in appetite and sleep, and loss of interest in usual activities.<\/p>\n

5. Behavioural changes and taking excessive risks.<\/p>\n

6. Increased alcohol and\/or other drug use.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is at risk, reach out to Sadag or call the Suicide Crisis line on 0800 567 567 or Sadag Mental Health line on 011 234 4837<\/p>\n

Sadag will host two free online Connect Webinars \u2013 one for teachers on February 24 at 3.30pm and one for parents on February 25 at 1pm.<\/p>\n

Experts will unpack how to identify warning signs of teen depression and suicide at home and in the classroom, self-help tips to deal with depression, how to talk about suicide with a teen, developing a suicide safety plan, and how to connect to help.<\/p>\n

Visit www.sadag.org for more details about the free Connect Webinars and RSVP for your free seat today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Durban – As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) encourages parents, teachers and family members to know the warning signs of depression and suicide, and to reach out for help as soon as possible. You may know of someone who has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-4577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSuicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24 - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\",\"name\":\"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24 - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":404,\"caption\":\"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24 - South Africa","description":"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24","og_description":"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":404,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24","datePublished":"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24"},"wordCount":661,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","community","homepage-english"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24","name":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24 - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-16T18:28:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Durban - As the matric class of 2020 await their matric results, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/02\/img-602c05515e5db.jpg","width":720,"height":404,"caption":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/suicide-is-second-leading-cause-of-death-in-young-people-aged-15-to-24#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Suicide is second leading cause of death in young people aged 15 to 24"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}