‘More and more young people end their lives’

The average number of suicides among people up to the age of thirty was just over twenty per month a year ago. But there are more and more months in which that number exceeds thirty. So the average is rising, reports 113 Suicide Prevention based on figures from the Current Dutch Suicide Registration Committee (CANS).

“If the figure in a month is above thirty, we speak of a red month,” says chairman Renske Gilissen of CANS. The calendar also turned red last month. Again, more than thirty young adults killed themselves.

According to clinical psychologist Maryke Geerdink, manager at 113 Suicide Prevention, the increase is much greater than expected. Definitive figures on the number of suicides in the previous year will be published in May by Statistics Netherlands, based on reports by forensic doctors.

“So we will only publish our figures once the final numbers are known. Although we already know that the trend is worrying,” says Gilissen.

More and more young people are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, the RIVM already reported at the end of last year. According to Geerdink and Gilissen, it is difficult to say where this increase comes from. They emphasize that several factors always play a role.

It is clear, however, that a large proportion of the people who killed themselves in recent months had been struggling with psychological problems for some time. According to Gillissen, 40 percent of people who committed suicide were known to mental health professionals.

“More and more young adult callers are talking about loneliness and depression,” says Geerdink. The number of telephone calls and chat conversations at suicide prevention line 113 increases every year. Currently, about 450 calls are made per day.