By Ljiljana Kovacevic for Southeast European Times in Banja Luka – 24/06/11
According to Republika Srpska police, during the first five months of this year, there were 121 suicides in the entity. [Reuters]
Igor M, a 13-year-old from Banja Luka, did not go to school on May 17th. He waited for his parents and sister to go to work before hanging himself in the attic of the family home. It was late afternoon before his father found him. The case is one in a disturbing series of suicides by minors in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) over the past several months.
Banja Luka child psychiatrist Dr. Ranka Kalinic says internal risk factors, such as depression or a family history of suicide, can lead a child to take his or her life. But there are also external or environmental factors, she says, such as rejection by peers. Bosnia and Herzegovina's recent past, she adds, contributes to the situation.
"There was a war and many children were left without a parent. Many people today have lost their jobs and problems undermine the family. Adults are finding it very hard to cope with life's problems and fear for their very existence, and all this is much harder on the young, who depend on the family for basic security," Kalinic told SETimes.
According to her, the young cannot find refuge at school, because the education system itself has suffered as well.
"Children are often unable to find [relief]; they become desperate and have a sense of helplessness."
In BiH, she adds, "There is a crisis of morality and a distorted system of values: 'successful' people are mainly criminals, and the honest ones, who earn a living by working, are at subsistence level. In this way youth receive duplicate messages, which cause a confused mental state."
Kalinic stresses that while BiH is not among the group of high risk countries in terms of its suicide rate, there is a noticeable increase in that rate, particularly among children and young adults.
According to Republika Srpska police, during the first five months of this year, there were 121 suicides in the entity. "Most suicides, 63, took place in Banja Luka; of the 121 people, 98 were men and 23 women. Suicide is most often done by hanging, followed by the use of firearms, followed by drowning," RS Ministry of Interior spokesman Mirna Soja told SETimes.
Last year, there were 256 suicides in the entity, or 22 more than in 2009. According to media reports, the number is also rising in neighbouring Serbia and Croatia.
Sociologist Dusko Vejnovic says society's overall situation -- regionwide -- is one reason for the alarming trend. "People are massively depleted. A good portion of the population is at an impasse because there is no possibility to provide a minimum of existence," he tells SETimes.
He believes that state institutions urgently need to start addressing issues related to the survival of citizens, to demonstrate more solidarity and understanding for those living at subsistence level.
"In addition, the system of values has been damaged; certain circles favour values that are not positive. The need for love is lost, along with honesty and morality. [People] resort to a bloodthirsty battle for enrichment, which is eminently not for any civilisation or normal people. Today, people have less and less solidarity and humanity towards other people," said Vejnovic.
Source: SETimes.com
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