We appreciate the publication of the article by Gerstner and Lara Lara1 in their magazine since it focuses on a topic of great relevance, such as the increase in suicide rates among young people, for which we believe it is appropriate to share some reflections. In recent years there has been a greater visibility of the problem of suicide in public opinion despite the fact that historically it had been silenced due, among other reasons, to the possible contagion effect or Werther effect that could occur when disseminated from the media Communication news about suicidal behaviors. Indeed, it has been shown that this contagion effect can occur among younger people, when the news is transmitted from frivolity or by misusing the information2. However, the evidence shows that suicidal behaviors can be prevented through health policies and community actions. In their article, the authors take a very broad time series, since 1990, and show the increase in suicide rates among boys and girls aged 10-14, among adolescents and among young boys, which places his country, Ecuador, among the ten countries with the highest suicide rates in children and youth. According to the authors, despite this growing trend, no measures have been taken to curb it. In addition, they criticize that the 2018 strategy to reduce suicide has not yet been evaluated. In other countries such as the US, suicide rates have also increased among those under 25 years of age and the greatest increase has occurred among children aged 5 to 14 ...
Language: es
LA - es SN - 1137-6627 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.23938/ASSN.0781 ID - ref1 ER -