The rising number of young people in Ho Chi Minh City who have considered suicide or engaged in self-harm is serious cause for concern, according to experts who spoke on the topic at a seminar on Tuesday.
A survey of 400 12- to 16-year-olds carried out by the psychology faculty of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education identified eight participants who scored highly in criteria meant to measure suicidal tendencies.
A separate survey of 3,480 minors by the same faculty showed that 37.04 percent of the participants were at risk of engaging in self-harm.
The results of the second screening survey highlighted that 6.1 percent, or 213 adolescents, intentionally harmed themselves one to four times a year while 53.1 percent of the participants engaged in self-harm eight to 11 times a year, oftentimes with serious consequences.
About 41.3 percent of the respondents intentionally mildly wounded themselves from five to seven times a year while 5.6 percent severely injured themselves 12 times or more a year, resulting in extremely serious consequences.
The psychology faculty also carried out a third survey which measured the mental health status of more than 600 university students in Ho Chi Minh City.
The results showed that 42.2 percent of the respondents were at risk of depression and 41 percent might currently suffer from anxiety.
Some of the survey’s respondents thought that they were better off being dead or injured in some way. Those thoughts lingered in their mind for up to six days, according to the survey.
A number of other respondents whose loved ones died during the COVID-19 pandemic had thought about death.
Giang Thien Vu, a PhD student who conducted one of the three surveys, blamed COVID-19 as a pervasive trauma that has had a strong impact on the mental health of adolescents.
The pandemic, Vu said, has exacerbated existing mental health problems and contributed to new mental health conditions related to stress, depression, and suicidal intentions.
Fear of COVID-19; learning disruptions and consequences of ineffective online teaching; economic consequences of social distancing; bereavement of a loved one due to COVID-19; anxiety and stress about life, work, and study orientation; and social security during and after the pandemic have all negatively affected the mental health of minors, according to Vu.
The experts at the seminar called for support to help minors overcome their traumas, as well as for aid in delivering mental health services to Ho Chi Minh City residents of all ages.
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