Suicide Among Southeast Asian Youth

Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, suicide among Southeast Asian diverse youth has increased. It has become one of the leading causes of mortality in young people globally. Therefore, it has become a public health concern in developing countries such as those in Southeast Asia (SEA). Suicide was identified to be one of the five leading causes of death in people aged 15–29 years (Patton et al. Lancet. 2009;374(9693):881–92). There appears to be specific predisposing and risk factors, psychiatric diagnoses, and access to means of self-harm among youth who either thought of suicide, attempt suicide, or complete suicide in the majority of these countries. Fortunately, some countries have taken steps to prevention and intervention. In other countries, the stigma of mental illness is still profound. This stigma can translate into their adopted countries such as the USA, where there are profound difference in Asian-American mental healthcare utilization (Abe-Kim et al. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(1):91–98). We performed a literature search of the most recent publications with the most recent statistics and epidemiology of suicide among youth from Southeast Asian ethnicity and found that there are very limited studies or literature. But, there are studies studying mental health among Asian-Americans. The countries we will focus on in this chapter are Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.