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VIETNAM: Confusion Rises With Teen Suicides

Tran Dinh Thanh Lam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Jun 29 2005 (IPS) - An increasing number of youth suicides has prompted social workers and relevant officials to dig into the roots of the phenomenon. One of their findings is that not much has been done in Vietnam to help them understand the disturbing issue.

Thu Phung, 14, committed suicide by slitting her veins with a razor after her grandmother had scolded her for not tidying her belongings.

“Cases of teenagers killing themselves for trivial reasons, like Thu Phung, are increasing,” said Dr Thai Thanh Thuy, director of the Department of Children’s Psychology at Children’s Hospital No. 2 in the capital Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).

Although the total number of youth suicides nationwide is not available, figures recorded by HCMC’s Children’s Hospitals No. 1 and No. 2 suggest the increase is sizeable. Hospital No. 1 recorded 48 suicides in the first half of this year compared to 26 in the same period last year. More than two-thirds of the 2005 cases were of youth ages 14-18.

Hanoi Grade 12 student Dang Le Minh killed himself one day before he was to write his final high-school exams. Reports said the boy was a diligent and clever student, and his death not only cast a cloud of sadness over his home, but also left his loved ones asking “why?”

The death of Phan Huu Phuc, a Grade 8 student in Tan Chau District, An Giang Southern Province, is also tragic. A hard-working student, Phuc was chosen to take part in the “good students’ competition” organized by the An Giang education office.

The school principal wanted to meet Phuc’s father to announce the good news and ask the man’s permission for his son to compete. But the father did not answer the invitation, telling his son he had some important work.

When the nine-year-old school child discovered his father’s “work” was getting drunk with his friends, he felt ashamed and drank insecticide, which is always available in rural areas.

Minh and Phuc are just a few of the youths who felt they had no other option than to end their lives. Available statistics show that 60 percent of teen suicides in Vietnam were from poor urban families or rural areas; their parents had no or little formal education to enable them to understand their children’s psychological health.

Cai Lay District of the southern province of Tien Giang has become a focus of this issue. The district is suffering a wave of teenage suicides, with 37 juveniles killing themselves by drinking pesticide in the first three moths of this year.

Nguyen Thi Be, the mother of Vo Thanh Hung, a young man who killed himself several months ago in Phu Nhuan Commune, says she does not understand why he did it.

Her husband Vo Van Son says Hung, the family’s only son, had always done well in school and had good friends. “One day Be asked him to pick up some rice after school. Hung did not do it and Be gave him a scolding. He then went and drank pesticide behind the house. We failed to save him,” Son told IPS.

“We didn’t see any changes in him before the suicide,” he added.

Phan Thi My Xuan, 18, killed herself after she was accused of stealing 100,000 Dong (six U.S. dollars) from her older sister. Her body was discovered after she drank an entire bottle of pesticide. Eventually, the family found out that Xuan’s brother had taken the money.

At a seminar on psychology and psychological disorders organized in HCMC last year, Dr Lam Xuan Dien, director of HCMC’s Centre of Spiritual Health, said that of 145 cases of suicides recorded by HCMC hospitals, 90 percent were young people, ages 14 to 20.

Various reasons pushed these young people to commit suicide: parents’ divorce, family problems, difficult living conditions, sexual abuse and depression, to name just a few, he added.

“Nearly 40 percent of these youth had a kind of mental illness, depression in particular,” stressed Dien, adding, “suicides happen because parents and other adults are not aware of how their children are doing emotionally”.

Dien suggested some measures to curb youth suicide, including community awareness and assistance to youth in despair. “We should not be indifferent to youths’ problems, and must take particular care of them.”

“Suicide and suicidal thoughts are unfortunately common during puberty,” explains Phan Thu Trang, a social worker at the Family Education and Consultation Centre in HCMC.

“A chaotic and confusing time, teens often feel isolated or alone, and don’t know where to turn for help or advice,” she added in an interview.

The turmoil of puberty in conjunction with little or no parental support can make life extremely difficult for teens, according to Trang. “If only Minh’s parents or Phuc’s father could speak to these poor boys and comfort them, they would not be so desperate.”

Trang says, “the most important thing is to educate the family. Although parents may love their children, it’s often difficult to know what kind of guidance teens do and do not need.”

“Hurtful judgments from parents stay with a child, particularly those with low self-esteem,” she adds. “The children may not become troubled hearing these kinds of comments once or twice, but if repeated regularly, they can be traumatic.”

Trang recalls a mother who repeatedly told her son that she would not have given birth to him if she had known he would turn out the way he did. This, Trang said, is a classic example of comments that can scar a child.

Le Van Dung, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Cai Lay, the district that has seen a series of youth suicides, explained to IPS how people there are dealing with the issue. “When we find someone who seems isolated and depressed, we try to warn their families. If the families don’t take responsibility, we urge the young people to join in social activities,” he said.

“We visit families whose children are showing signs of detachment or depression, as well as those families who have experienced a suicide. We offer advice, support, and more often, just a listening ear,” added Tran Thi Cho of the Cai Lay Women’s Association.

Both Dung and Cho confessed to having no special training to handle the issue. “We (are acting) based only on our common sense,” he said.

Dien of HCMC’s Centre of Spiritual Health seems to agree with Dung and Cho. “We need to focus on teaching parents and community leaders how to detect problems early, and how to approach teens in the right way. The relationship between a teen, their friends and their families is very important. These relationships guide the lives of young people.”

But he added, sadly, that although suicide was considered by the United Nations as one of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide, the issue of youth suicide has yet to receive sufficient attention in Vietnam. “There has been much research undertaken on suicide among adults with mental disorders, but nothing for youths,” Dien said.