Child suicide rates grow in Russia

Suicide rates among children have grown by 37% in 2021, totalling at 753 cases nationwide, Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children ombudsperson, says in her report.

Minors committed suicide on 788 occasions in 2018, with figures for 2019 and 2020 standing at 737 and 548, respectively.

The number of suicide attempts by the underaged has grown by 13% over the past three years, from 3253 to 3675. The amount of repeated suicide attempts has almost doubled, going from 188 to 362.

The data above was provided by Russia’s Investigative Committee. However, Rosstat, the national statistics agency, reports twice as low figures and claims the suicide trend among children is in decline. The data by the Investigative Committee seems to be more reliable since it is based off official reports by detectives and not only death certificates issued by medical institutions.

The reasons behind suicidal behaviour are lack of interaction within families, quarrels, confrontations between parents, mental disorders, romantic heartbreaks, confrontations with peers, discontent with own appearance, problems at school and, quote, “influence of illegal information on the Internet,” reads the report,