He suicide it is a taboo subject. More when referring to children and adolescents. And much more if it is more than one case at a time. For years, the recommendation to the media and institutions was not to touch the subject due to the contagion effect. However, what happens when the information is impossible to stop? This is what just happened in 25 of May. In this Buenos Aires town of almost 40,000 inhabitants, three boys between the ages of 13 and 14 who went to the same school took their lives in the span of five months. Efforts to contain the media coverage of the matter were useless. In the networks, in meetings, on the street… nobody talks about anything else and the speculations around the tragedy include the hypothesis of a suicide pact and a new edition of the macabre game “The Blue Whale”.
The Mercedes General Prosecutor’s Office He maintains an absolute reserve. The local authorities insist that the link between the events was not confirmed, but that response does not satisfy the residents. “Adults say that, but the kids repeat something else,” a woman who has children of the same age told NOTICIAS.
WhatsApp captures of alleged conversations that reported that there was going to be an upcoming suicide circulated on networks. “The origin of these captures could not be determined,” he stressed to NOTICIAS Fernando Herraiz, undersecretary of Education, Sports and Youth of the municipality. The official insisted on the need for responsibility on the part of both the local media and the neighbors themselves: “This situation made the game of the blue whale known and gave rise to many children and adults circulating messages about which they The source is unknown,” he added.
In psychology, we usually talk about two opposing phenomena: the Werther Effect and the Papageno Effect. The first takes its name from the 18th century novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by Johann Goethe. When it was published it was a success among the young people of the time and many imitated the way in which its protagonist commits suicide. The second is inspired by the opera “The Magic Flute” by Mozart, in a man who tries to take his own life and abandons the idea after being persuaded by three spirits.
“The Werther Effect points to the identification of one adolescent with another regarding a behavior: ‘He did it like that and I’m going to do it.’ It usually appears when there is more than one case of suicide, which may not be connected through a pact but is triggered by this. With the Papageno Effect, the opposite happens: it is the idea that talking to someone else who was wrong can also help the one who listens, which has a positive impact,” the graduate in Psychology and master’s degree in Community Mental Health explained to NOTICIAS, daniel korinfeld.
The Child Mind Institute in the United States is restating the recommendation for news reporting on the subject, stressing: “It is essential not to dramatize or ‘sensationalize’, but not to avoid talking about it.” The psychoanalyst Diego Zerba, author of “Subjective structuring in children”, agrees: “No to the tendency to catastrophe. But it is necessary to start talking about this as a health issue, ”he assured NEWS.
For this reason, the specialists insist, it is not convenient that neither the media nor the school nor the users of social networks share details about the investigation, the circumstances of the death of the adolescents of 25 of May or your privacy.
Three adolescents committed suicide on May 25: information out of control
The news of the third suicide in 25 of May ended up hitting the community. However, what happened in the days that followed only added to the chaos and fear. The origin of the suicide pact, according to the municipal authorities and the neighbors consulted by NOTICIAS, was a WhatsApp group that was created as soon as the last death was known.
In that group a chilling screenshot would have appeared: “Every Sunday a boy is going to kill himself. Next Sunday one in a pill. The other in the industrial school. 6 friends swore to always be together. 1 lukas the boy from the bus. 2 the boy from the bus. 3 the one now. There are 3 more to go” (sic), says an alleged person. The message ends worse: “The last layer is me” (sic).
That capture immediately went viral and the information was reproduced by everyone, adults and children. This is how the hypothesis “The Blue Whale” arose, a “game” that spread on the internet in 2016 and that, from time to time, makes news in the world again. It is a series of challenges that administrators send to recipients who escalate in level of physical and emotional damage (jumping from a very high place, a “school mission”, self-harm). The last slogan is that the “player” take his own life.
In general, adolescents reach these recipients through conversations with strangers on social networks or online games. In 25 of May Speculations about the origin came to involve two other adolescents, although with contradictory information. In some groups it was insisted that one of them was the one who sent the invitations to the “game”, while in others it was pointed out as the next victim. “A social psychosis was generated. One of the boys didn’t even have a cell phone,” insisted Herraiz. The mother of one of them spoke to the local media outlet Baires Centro because she wanted to clarify that her son had nothing to do with it.
As if that were not enough, days after the last death was known, the Chronicle cameras went to cover the tragedy. The channel spoke with parents of the victims’ companions and unconfirmed details of the circumstances of the death were reproduced. In 25 of May There are those who speculate that the call to the national media is part of the fierce electoral fight that is going through the city and that it was a maneuver to discredit the ruling party. The madness is complete.
As the days passed, the city calmed down a bit, although it was difficult for the students of the technical school to want to resume classes. The General Directorate of Culture and Education of the province, in coordination with local devices, began to give talks in schools. Ultimately, what happened 25 of May It is the expression of a widespread problem throughout the country.
Adolescent suicide, individual and social causes
In the world of mental health there is a growing concern about the matter. Without going any further, a short time ago the Fundación Centro Psicoanalítica Argentina toured cities in the interior of Buenos Aires to address the issue. “They summoned us because there is a lot of concern about the escalation of cases. It also happens in big cities, but in a small place, when two or three boys commit suicide, the shock is very strong,” he said. Zerba.
From Adolescence and Youth, from the Ministry of Health of the Nation, an activity was carried out with professionals on Friday the 12th and the urgency was raised in two matters: sexual violence and suicide. In May 2021, the agency published “Comprehensive approach to suicide in adolescence”, a free access material for health professionals.
The material reproduces alarming figures: in line with the figures that are handled globally, in Argentina the second leading cause of death in adolescence is suicide. 77% occurs between the ages of 15 and 19 and it is more frequent that the passage to the act is done by men. For specialists, it is essential to eradicate the myths around adolescent suicide: it can happen in any family. “It is thought that this only happens to one type of person, that there is always a psychiatric-based problem, that they are boys who live in a certain place. But that is not so,’ “he stressed. Korinfeld.
When looking for reasons, the psychologist explained that “there is a tension between the individual, the particular of age and the general of a time” and added that the studies carried out with adolescents who had attempts showed that problems can appear in the family , difficulties in communication, abuse, maltreatment, obstacles in integration and in the recognition of others. There are not always obvious signs.
For this reason, the experts maintained that the predisposition to listen and communicate should be a constant in the spaces where adolescents circulate. Zerba He gave an example: “There are parents who at the first alarm, for example, take away the cell phone as if that were the problem. I do not recommend”. Korinfeld He called to lose fear: “If a boy or a girl says something related to an idea of death, talking about it does not feed that idea. On the contrary. Many people are afraid to open a door but talking can allow them to identify something, relieve and of course ask a question”.
In case of any doubt, the recommendation is to attend a specialized mental health center or contact the Suicide Assistance Center at 0800 345 1435.
