A new study published this week and presented at the European Symposium of Suicide and Suicidal Behavior in Tel Aviv, examines for the first time the suicide rates among different segments of Israeli youth, Kipa reports. According to the study, which examined the scope of non-documented suicide attempts among Israeli youth in several communities, it appears that 3.5% of the young people interviewed attempted suicide.
The study indicates that most of the victims did not receive emergency room treatment, and therefore were not included in the Ministry of Health’s records on suicide. The study, which determined that the number of suicide attempts among Israeli youth is 20 times higher than reported in official statistics, examined a total of 1,134 teens.
The most significant statistic was recorded in the segment focusing on suicide rates among the LGBT community. A staggering 20% of the homosexuals and lesbians surveyed reported suicide attempts – 112 times the rate among the general population.
But the rate is even higher among religious LGBTs. According to Dr. Chana Bar Yosef, the study’s director, “this is a sector that does not get enough notice, and it is a hotbed for suicides that you later hear about after the fact. The suicide rate among the religious homosexuals is the highest because they experience more distress when confronting their families.”
HOD, The organization for Religious Homosexuals has been working for several years now to decrease the suicide attempts of religious homosexuals “by increasing awareness of the issue in the educational and rabbinic institutions.”
