The warning signs of collapsing adolescent mental health that go unnoticed – The tragedy in Ilioupoli that shocked the country

What happened aboriginal Tuesday day past week successful Ilioupoli? How is it imaginable that 2 17-year-old girls who, according to their teacher’s testimony, appeared carefree and cheerful conscionable the time before, decided to extremity their lives?

People who hardly knew the 2 children cannot supply answers, but possibly adjacent those who knew them good whitethorn find it highly difficult, if not impossible, to explain.

Child psychiatrists and intelligence wellness experts, however, observe that though rare, the treble termination successful Ilioupoli is neither, nor should it beryllium treated as, an isolated event, but alternatively “as portion of an evolving epidemic of teen psychopathology.”

The Ilioupoli lawsuit is frightening. What way does a teenage miss travel earlier deciding that “this satellite is not for me,” and however did this travel yet walk beneath the radar of household and those astir her? No 1 knows whether oregon what the contiguous situation whitethorn person noticed, oregon whether they understood that the girls were experiencing specified unbearable pressure.

In their last messages, however, the 2 girls blamed nine portion expressing emotion for their families. In 1 family, a important nonaccomplishment — the decease of the begetter — leads to the appraisal that it whitethorn person worsened the girl’s intelligence state. Her person felt specified unit that she had go convinced that thing bully awaited her successful life. How does a miss lone 17 years aged scope specified a dormant end?

“Invisible” informing signs

The signs of a child’s oregon adolescent’s intelligence information are not ever obvious, but determination are immoderate that are often overlooked.

According to kid psychologists, these include:

■ Changes successful sleeping habits (sleeping overmuch little oregon overmuch much than usual).

■ The teen displays aggravated outbursts and explosions implicit seemingly insignificant matters.

■ Complaints of assorted assemblage pains without immoderate existent aesculapian cause.

■ Stopping activities they erstwhile loved oregon enjoyed.

■ Eating overmuch little oregon overmuch much than usual.

■ Declining schoolhouse performance.

Did 1 kid power the other?

The associated determination the 2 girls made to die, arsenic suggested by testimonies and grounds astir however they behaved earlier climbing to the rooftop of the flat gathering wherever 1 of them lived, has deepened the corporate daze and, for many, the fearfulness that anyone could find themselves successful the presumption of their parents. Double suicide, though rare, does happen.

According to kid psychiatrists, successful specified cases 1 kid whitethorn power the other; they place with each other, and each projects their intelligence authorities onto the other. Society inactive prefers not to sermon intelligence wellness issues, arsenic stigma remains strong. However, particularly aft the pandemic, Greece has recorded a important summation successful cases of anxiety, depression, and intelligence distress among children and adolescents. Nearly 1 successful 4 adolescents present shows symptoms of anxiousness oregon depression, with girls exhibiting importantly higher rates of intelligence distress than boys.

Child psychiatrists talk of an evolving epidemic of teen psychopathology straight linked to the mode beingness and societies are organized. “We unrecorded successful times of implicit individualism; determination is nary model for adolescents to beryllium to. Consider besides the information of today’s 45-year-olds: the parents of today’s adolescents emerged from economical crisis, enactment 2 oregon 3 jobs to survive, and determination is nary clip near for family. Parents themselves are overwhelmed — and this creates a vicious cycle,” they say.

After the pandemic, Greece saw accrued reports of panic attacks, eating disorders, self-harm, and slumber problems among minors. Since 2020, requests for intelligence enactment for children and adolescents successful kid psychiatric facilities person accrued significantly, though this is not ever imaginable owed to constricted capableness and chronic understaffing.

They blasted society, not their parents

In the Ilioupoli case, constabulary investigating the grounds judge the 2 girls had planned what happened astir noon past Tuesday. They did not “suddenly” spell up to the rooftop; determination whitethorn person been events that solidified their decision, and it was lone a substance of clip earlier it was carried out. In galore cases, psychiatrists person observed, imitation plays a role. Psychiatrists besides enactment that astir a period agone different 17-year-old miss died by termination aft jumping from the Corinth Canal bridge, portion authorities are besides investigating the decease of a 25-year-old pistillate who fell from a seventh-floor balcony successful Piraeus connected Friday.

The thoughts of the 2 girls successful Ilioupoli were recorded successful a enactment and a diary. According to experts, done their writings they directed their choler astatine society, not their parents. They expressed emotion for their families, apologized, but felt trapped successful a dormant end.

In effect to the Ilioupoli case, the Hellenic Psychiatric Association and the Union of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists — Child Psychiatric Society of Greece stressed the value of prevention and called for contiguous and coordinated practice among each progressive parties: psychiatrists, kid psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, parents, policymakers, and media representatives, since the mode specified incidents are presented tin person a almighty and harmful effect.

“The existent rapidly changing societal and integer situation creates caller challenges for teen intelligence health, specified arsenic isolation, cyberbullying, feelings of dormant extremity and despair, which necessitate systematic, interdisciplinary, and multi-level responses. At a aboriginal stage, we suggest the motorboat of a meaningful nationalist dialog that volition pb to strengthening intelligence enactment successful schools, grooming teachers to admit informing signs, raising household awareness, strengthening younker intelligence wellness services, and establishing wide guidelines for the media inspired by planetary standards regarding the reporting of termination cases. The intelligence wellness of children, adolescents, and adults is not an contented that concerns lone specialists. It is simply a shared work of nine arsenic a whole,” Greek psychiatrists and kid psychiatrists note.

According to information from the Observatory of the Suicide Prevention Center “Klimaka,” determination has been an summation successful teen suicides successful 2026 (ages 15-19): 9 teenagers successful this property radical person taken their lives this year, compared with six past year, 7 successful 2024, 9 successful 2023, and 7 successful 2022. Suicide attempts are estimated to beryllium 15–20 times much frequent.

Hard-to-detect signs

Can an teen fell their existent intelligence state? The 2 girls successful Ilioupoli were described arsenic cheerful and well-liked children. Only a fewer classmates mentioned that lately they had seemed much withdrawn, but not to a grade that would person triggered alarm that thing superior was wrong.

They had been puerility friends and functioned usually wrong the schoolhouse community; the societal situation had not perceived the grade of the unit and despair they felt. Experts emphasize, however, that incidents similar the Ilioupoli lawsuit should not beryllium treated arsenic isolated — and supra each should not beryllium ignored. They besides accent that signs concerning a child’s oregon adolescent’s intelligence information are not ever obvious, arsenic they tin walk beneath parental oregon societal radar.

COVID, isolation, and societal media

According to OECD research, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a large origin worsening intelligence health, intensifying anxiousness and isolation. Economic insecurity, arsenic experienced wrong families, is different aggravating origin — 1 of the girls successful Ilioupoli wrote that she would not bash good connected the Panhellenic exams and would extremity up successful a occupation that would not supply capable money. How did a 17-year-old go truthful hopeless astir wealth she had not adjacent had the accidental to earn? School examinations, meanwhile, stay a root of unit and often pb adolescents to slump and self-harm, portion bullying increases the hazard of intelligence disorders.

Social media are besides blamed for contributing to anxiousness and slump among adolescents erstwhile utilized excessively, portion slumber deprivation caused by mobile telephone usage is straight associated with depression. This realization has successful information led to property restrictions connected societal media level use.

According to information from the World Health Organization (WHO), girls acquisition anxiousness astatine higher rates and importantly higher rates of slump than boys, portion self-harm is besides much communal among girls. At the aforesaid time, teen girls consciousness acold much aggravated unit from societal media than boys do.

According to the WHO, intelligence disorders among European adolescents person accrued by 33% implicit the past 15 years. Furthermore, according to the findings of the OECD survey published successful March titled “Child, teen and younker intelligence wellness successful the 21st century,” 15-year-old girls successful Greece fertile 2nd successful Europe, down lone their peers successful Ireland, successful presumption of “problematic” societal media use. The classification is based connected 9 grounds indicators, with adolescents having responded positively to astatine slightest six of them. In 2022, 22% of 15-year-old girls successful Greece fell into the class of problematic users, compared with 17% successful 2018.