Suicide attempt in adolescents’ perception: a descriptive study

Abstract

This study sought to know and analyze the reasons why adolescents attempt suicide and the methods used by them to achieve this event. Descriptive research, developed in a hospital located in a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, in 2007. To collect data we used semi-structured interview. The subjects were three individuals that attempted suicide, with ages between 13 and 18 years.  The data analysis followed the established steps for the thematic analysis, which was built in a theme that focuses on the methods and motives that lead adolescents to attempt against life. It was identified that family conflicts represented the main reason to suicide attempts between the participants of the study. Suicide in adolescence is in itself an issue that deserves debate and requires preventive and informational programs to minimize the occurrence of the act.

Descriptors: Suicide, attempted; Adolescent behavior; Nursing.