Background. Attempted suicides are a serious problem in pediatric medicine and may lead to intensive care treatment. This retrospective analysis summarizes the results of the analysis of children and adolescents treated in the initensiv care unit at Children's Hospital in Leipzig for attempted suicide between 1990-1999.
METHODS and Patients. The social background of the family often has special burdens (worklessness or retrainig of mothers 26%, of fathers 16%). Intrafamilial communication may have certain kinds of difficulties (divorces 26%, step-parents 10%). Mental instability often occurs in parents of the patients mental or psychosomatic illness in 41% of mothers).
CONCLUSION. Social background of the family and the kind of intrafamilial communication are important factors of determination of attempted suicides. Mental instability of other family members are accompanied by an increasing risk. The analysis of our cases as well as the conclusions drawn from the literature give important guidelines for clinical in- and outpatient treatment. The aim of this analysis was the description of an effective way of intervening in a crisis and preventing suicides. The foremost priority is the combination of clinical treatment and human-emotional responsibility in order to support the individual abilities of young people to cope with crisis.