[Youth and the danger of suicide (author's transl)]

FRom 1972 to 1977 the frequency of suicide in the total population of the Federal Republic of Germany has increased from 19.8 to 22.7 per 100,000. There are no satisfactory grounds for assessing suicidal acts of young people differently from those of adults. Differences are to be assumed in the central aspects of suicidal considerations (signal, aggression, rehabilitation, interruption). The incidence of suicidal behavior in adolescence can be explained as the effect of transitional conditions. The increase is connected with overlapping crises in the sphere of life of young people. Understanding suicidal behavior in youth as the result of a chain of past conflicts and stresses can direct the intervention in the sense of a sequence of countersteps.-20