“Imagine: out of 5 young girls that you meet in the street, one of them tried to end her life … I can tell you that I did not sleep well the day I had these results. ” This is how Dr Philippe Binder, general practitioner, responsible for a consultation for teenagers at the Rochefort hospital in Charente-Maritime, presented the results of a survey carried out in 171 schools in Poitou-Charentes and ‘Alsace.
This epidemiological survey was jointly piloted by the Faculty of Medicine and the Poitiers University Institute of Public Health and the Alsace Regional Health Observatory. More than 1,800 teenagers were drawn at schools and answered a long health questionnaire. The examination of the answers somewhat surprised the doctors because to the question: “During the last twelve months, have you tried to commit suicide?”, Nearly 21% of the girls answered in the affirmative. But only 9% of the boys answered yes.
“The level reached, above the 20% mark, and the increase in suicide attempts among young girls is very impressive” insists Dr. Binder. In fact, in 1993, only 9% of young girls had self-declared a suicide attempt. In 1999, the figure had reached 14.9%. On the other hand, among boys the progression (4% in 1993, 7.5% in 1999, 8.8% in 2012) is slower.
For Dr Xavier Pommereau, a psychiatrist specializing in adolescents in difficulty, this difference in the figures is explained by the fact that girls who are doing badly turn violence against them, while boys attack society, by criminal acts.
Whatever the case, it is urgent, according to Dr Binder, to launch a real reflection on adolescent suicide in our country. In the United States, for example, only 5% of 16-year-old girls admit to having wanted to die.
This epidemiological investigation is published this month in the professional journal Le Concours Médicale.