Cases Of Suicide In Students Increasingly, Why Do Young People Risk To End Life?

The campaign banner for the Zero Bullying Movement at the Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University (UNDIP), the complex area of Dr. Kariadi Hospital, Semarang, Thursday (15/8/2024). (ANTARA/Aji Styawan)

Recently, news of the suicide of students in various regions has become a topic of conversation. Most recently, a student in Jakarta was found dead in the courtyard of the campus building on October 4.

Suicide cases experienced by students continue to repeat itself. The concern of universities to prevent student suicide is still considered weak. In addition, support from family and closest people is also needed.

There have been at least three cases of student suicide in various regions in Indonesia which have become a hot topic of conversation lately. In Surabaya, a student was found dead in the courtyard of the Petra Christian University building, Tuesday (1/10/2024). He allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the building.

Shortly thereafter, a student at the Semarang State University was found dead in his boarding house due to suicide on Thursday (3/10). Most recently, a student at Tarumanegara University with the initials E (18) was also suspected of committing suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of the campus. The student was found dead in the courtyard of the campus building in Grogol, Petamburan, West Jakarta.

Of the three cases above, the motives are different. Starting from allegations of romance, to psychological disorders of depression.

Recently, the public was also surprised by the death of AUL, a student of the Diponegoro University Specialist Doctors Education Program, Semarang, Central Java. He chose to end his life by injecting medicine into his own body due to heavy workload and allegations of bullying from his seniors.

In October last year, two suicide cases of students at a university in Yogyakarta and Semarang were revealed in the media. Similar cases were also found in a number of areas and were considered to be an iceberg phenomenon considering the number of cases that were not reported was believed to be large.

The phenomenon of suicide at a young age is a global problem, including Indonesia. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) as of August 24, 2024, suicides mostly occur in people aged 15-29 years, with the majority still in school or college.

In 2022, the Indonesia-National Adolescent Health Survey recorded 5.5 percent or 2.54 million teenagers diagnosed with mental health problems. A small fraction (4.4 percent) of teenagers reported that they had intentionally hurt themselves.

Meanwhile, data from the Indonesian Health Survey in 2023 shows that the highest prevalence of depression was found in the 15-24 year age group. Among young people with depression, 61 percent of them have thoughts about ending their lives.

The study of 4,675 students in six countries in ASEAN, including Indonesia, published in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry in April 2017, found the prevalence of students who had ideas and suicide attempts of 11.7 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Kasandra Putranto said that adolescence is a time when many changes occur in individuals, ranging from physical and psychological changes. The magnitude of this change makes teenagers become a population that is prone to mental health problems. Kasandra explained several things that could be a risk factor for mental disorders in adolescents, such as family conditions, friendship, academic stress, to traumatic events.

"For example, harsh parenting patterns or poor parenting relationships, lack of support from family, parental divorce, poor family communication, and loss of family members," Kasandra told VOI.

Menurut Hurlock (2014) masa remaja adalah masa yang sangat berat dan rawan akan depresi karena masa ini adalah fase penuh perubahan, baik anatomicis, fisik, emosional, intelegence serta hubungan sosial.

What's more, for most people, being a student is the first period in their life that they have to be away from people and an environment that is familiar to them so that these changes are more felt which makes life feel heavier.

Meanwhile, Wurinda (2015) stated that there are several problems faced by students that can cause high stress to think about suicide, including finances, problems with lecturers, academic relationships, problems with friends, love problems, and health problems.

Edward Andriyanto Soetardhio, a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Indonesia, admits that changes in the curriculum in lectures also create new pressures for students. Life skills and emotional settings that are not included in the curriculum from an early age make young people now have the risk of ending their lives.

In fact, emotional settings are related to one's ability to manage and respond to emotional experiences effectively.

According to Edward, life skills (life skills) such as probable solving (problem solving), critical thinking (critical thinking), emotional regulation (emotional regulation) are not even taught in the curriculum in Indonesia.

The increasing influence of technology, especially gadgets, also takes part in this phenomenon. Lack of social support, because nowadays students tend to be individualists, making young people have a greater risk of ending life than before.

"Because everyone is busy with their own cellphones, with their respective devices. So there is no social support that is quite good between them," said Edward.

Kasandra Putranto said the same thing. In addition to the high level of depression and low emotional intelligence, the lack of social support has also made cases of suicide and depression among students rampant recently.

"Students are at risk of having depression coupled with high stress and lack of environmental support because living in a new environment can be the reason why many students finally choose to end their lives," he said.

According to the American Psychological Association, Generation Z is most aware of mental health. However, this high awareness has not been accompanied by awareness to seek the right help, in fact many young people actually do self-diagnosis.

This is in line with the Alvara Research Center which conducted a survey of 1,520 respondents in 34 provinces of Indonesia in 2022. One of the results shows that gen Z has a higher level of anxiety than the millennial and X genes.

Therefore, the expansion of access to mental health services is an absolute time to overcome the phenomenon of suicide at a young age.

However, according to Kasandra Putranto, social stigma related to mental health problems often makes people reluctant to seek help or talk openly about their problems. This stigma can make a person feel ashamed, weak, or feel something is wrong with them if they admit they have mental health problems. As a result, people may be reluctant to seek treatment.

"To overcome this problem, it is important to continue to raise awareness about mental health, reduce stigma, and provide better access to quality mental health services," Kasandra explained.

In addition, educational institutions also need to provide counseling services on campus complete with trained counselors and psychologists to help students who are stressed or depressed. This is accompanied by the implementation of peer support programs.

"Show that you care about him. Ask the individual's condition, listen to the story actively. Show that you are focused on listening to the individual's story and don't judge it, don't cut the conversation, and try to understand the individual's point of view," Kasandra said.

If you, a friend, or relative have a tendency to commit suicide, immediately contact a psychologist, psychiatrist or psychiatrist at a nearby health center or hospital. Asking for their help doesn't mean you are weak.