My friend Javier Pereda, a lawyer from Jaén, sent me his column in the Ideal de Jaén newspaper, titled with the single word “Suicide.” His article begins: “The deaths of two teenagers, Sharit and Rosmed, aged 15 and 16, in Jaén’s Parque de la Concordia, prompt reflection on suicide.” I would like to highlight a few lines from the article:

How can we prevent this surge in suicides, especially among young people? Recognized epidemiological studies from the United States indicate that we must seriously address alcohol, binge-drinking, adolescent screen addiction (which exposes them to online influencers who promote self-harm and explicitly advocate suicide), pornography addiction, and the culture of “casual sex,” which undermines the genuine meaning of responsible sexuality.

“We are living in truly unsettling times, characterized by profound confusion and disorientation.” With these words, Francisco Villar Cabeza, a clinical psychologist specializing in suicide prevention in childhood and adolescence, begins his book, How Screens Devour Our Children  (Herder, 2023). In it, he speaks of living in times of “tiredness, overindulgence, nausea, fatigue, boredom, sadness, dissatisfaction, and death wishes.”

Francisco Villar is the coordinator of the suicide prevention program for minors at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona. In the following video, he analyzes the causes that can lead a teenager to consider suicide and what we can do to prevent these situations.

“A teenager doesn’t wake up one day with suicidal intentions. It’s not something that happens spontaneously; it’s always more insidious than impulsive. Normally, the person experiences changes in their attitude, as if they were preparing for it: their mood begins to decline, they start to see themselves negatively…,” explains Pedro Neira, psychologist and head of the psychology department at the López Ibor clinic, on World Suicide Prevention Day. 

Sometimes parents, says Neira, “don’t talk about suicide with a teenager because they’re afraid of hitting a nerve. That’s why it’s important to clarify that it’s not about taking the act of suicide itself, but about the emotional distress that leads that minor to the impulse to want to take their own life.”

This is about prevention in a country where, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), seven children under the age of 15 (three boys and three girls) committed suicide in 2024. Among those aged 15 to 29, the figure rose to 309 (235 of them men, compared to 74 women). Professionals at the López Ibor Clinic remind us that suicide is preventable and that talking about it responsibly saves lives. This year, the international theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is  “Change the Narrative.” The aim is to move from the invisibility of suicide to the recognition of emotional pain as a legitimate part of the human experience. Experts emphasize that preventing suicide is not only a health issue, but also a social one: it requires dialogue, empathy, and support networks accessible to everyone.

“It’s not just about discussing the attempt or the act itself, but about understanding the reasons behind that act,” insists this specialist, who emphasizes that suicide, in the end, “is a symptom of something. It doesn’t come as a random impulse; it usually stems from a pre-existing distress. It’s a symptom or consequence of a mental health problem.” That’s why it’s important, he continues, that in this process “we know how to differentiate between the emotional distress we all experience—because feeling bad is part of life—and a larger problem.”

How can parents detect a problem at home?  “There’s usually prior social isolation, a loss of interest in leisure activities and things they used to enjoy. Sometimes, they might say hopeless or derogatory things, like, ‘I’m worthless, maybe it would be better to disappear…’  At times, they exhibit risky behaviors, almost like self-harm, such as rudeness, substance use… If the teenager is still in school, there might be a drop in academic performance…  All these feelings of hopelessness, of a lack of meaning in life, when they start affecting their interactions with parents or friends, should put us on alert.” It’s true, she acknowledges, “that teenagers have periods of existential crisis, but this is different. The difference lies in the fact that these behaviors aren’t fluctuating, but persistent over time.”

Thus, Neira insists,  “it’s good that as parents we try to talk to them about the issue, but always trying to understand where the discomfort comes from. If they don’t want to talk to us, we can encourage them to talk to friends, someone they trust, or another family member they feel comfortable with, so they can open up differently or create a safer space where they can talk about how they feel.”