U25 Switzerland

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Health notice This article is about suicide. For those at risk, there is a wide network of offers of help in which ways out are shown. In acute emergencies, the telephone counseling and the European emergency number 112 can be reached continuously and free of charge. After an initial crisis intervention , qualified referrals can be made to suitable counseling centers on request.

[U25] Switzerland was a prevention program for children and adolescents at risk of suicide . The target group of [U25] are children from the age of six, adolescents and young adults up to 25 years. This age group includes the majority of suicide attempts. In a new approach, professionally trained, volunteer peer advisors of the same age as the young people are to offer help and support. The consultants have often already survived a difficult life crisis and managed it successfully. They therefore address young people “on an equal footing” in terms of age and feelings, which is intended to quickly establish a basis of trust among those affected. It has been proven that young people are more likely to open up to their peers and entrust them with problems, thoughts and secrets that they would never talk about with adult counselors. [U25] was a pioneering offer of this kind in Switzerland. An open style of communication, similar to that in a familiar environment, enables those affected to find solution strategies and build up resources through suggestions and above all self-directed. Behind the peer counselors are professional social workers and psychologists who support and coach the young peers in their work. The offer from [U25] Switzerland, which was largely financed by private donations, was available to young users anonymously and online at all times.

In the interregional youth project competition in 2014, [U25] Eastern Switzerland won second place and qualified for the interregional final. At the interregional final, where the jury also consisted of teenagers and young people, [U25] won gold. The canton of St. Gallen rejects the project [U25] as a matter of principle, as it does not adapt to the existing structures, but was made exclusively for children and young people in crisis. A government representative also congratulated the competition.

[U25] Switzerland was built on the model of [U25] Freiburg, which was founded in 2002: The employees of the suicide prevention center “Arbeitskreis Leben” (AKL) in Freiburg observed that young people hardly used the classic counseling services - although the age group did so most suicide attempts is.

[U25] Switzerland no longer exists since 2018. Further information about the offer can be obtained from [U25] Germany.

Peer-to-peer approach

Psychologically, it has been proven that young people in crises and at risk of suicide hardly ever make use of traditional counseling services, which means that peer counseling has advantages. Those affected break away from their parents' home or have had the experience that adults do not take them seriously. This creates a high inhibition threshold to turn to professional support systems in case of problems, and they try to solve their problems themselves. Due to the low inhibition threshold in the discussions with the peer counselors from [U25], it is easier for young people to open up and gain trust. In a survey by the magazine 20 Minuten , 67% of the readership stated that they [U25] find a great idea and that they think young people open up to their peers more often.

According to a 2016 study by the University of Basel and the University of Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), family and school are becoming less relevant for young people. The exchange is shifting towards so-called peer groups. The federal government, too, wants to encourage the peer counseling approach to a greater extent.

Young people today live in a society with an increase in the use of social media instead of direct communication , especially by adolescents. Thus, more than ever, socialization takes place within the framework of young (friend) cliques and the exchange between peers.

In Switzerland, the potential of self-socialization in peer groups was examined in more detail for the first time with the aim of developing in-depth knowledge of the possible uses and applications of peer education. A report provides scientifically based findings in a previously unprocessed field. At the same time, the FHNW School of Social Work evaluated success factors and difficulties in connection with the implementation of the peer-to-peer method. Both the federal government and the University of Basel consider the peer counseling approach to be profitable.

The idea of ​​peer counseling originally came from Germany, where the working group Leben Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau has been offering the very successful suicide prevention [U25] Freiburg, which is also based on the peer-to-peer concept, for over ten years. In this, young people advise other young people who are in (suicidal) life crises. The German peer counseling is also accompanied and led by professional social workers. [U25] Switzerland is in close contact with [U25] Friborg, but is managed and further developed independently by mutual agreement.

In an article in Observer Magazine , peer advisors from [U25] Switzerland were interviewed. At the end of this article, the doctor Susanne Erb is critical of the peer-to-peer approach in suicide prevention.

statistics

Around 1300 people commit suicide every year in Switzerland. Approx. 200 are under 25 years of age. About 70% of them are men.

In 2011, suicide was the second most common cause of death among 15 to 44-year-old women following malignant tumors, and the most common among 15 to 44-year-old men. In a study of schoolchildren, 6.5 percent said they had already attempted suicide. Another 36.4 percent of the students reported suicidal ideation.

In Switzerland, the number of suicide deaths among young people is falling. Young people between the ages of 12 and 25 are the age group with the highest number of suicide attempts. For a pilot project in Wil in 2013, we were initially looking for peer counselors up to the age of 24. The Rapperswil location was added a little later, followed by St. Gallen and Bern .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Youth suicide prevention dossier. In: www.sozialinfo.ch. January 5, 2016, accessed September 18, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Youth suicide prevention U25 (1/16). In: www.sozialinfo.ch. January 5, 2016, accessed September 18, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Youth suicide counseling in Switzerland: MyHandicap Foundation. In: www.myhandicap.ch. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  4. ↑ The pediatrician Remo Largo pleads for more freedom for young people and for real role models: "Parents don't have too much, but too little time for their children" . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 14, 2010, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed on September 18, 2016]).
  5. ^ Yannick Wiget: Prevention against suicide: young people help young people . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 31, 2014, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed September 18, 2016]).
  6. ↑ Wiler Nachrichten: U25 Eastern Switzerland is in financial need. In: Wiler news. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Youth competition. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 13, 2016 ; accessed on September 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jugendprojekte.ch
  8. ↑ Interregional Final. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 18, 2016 ; accessed on September 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jugendprojekte.ch
  9. ↑ Interregional Gold. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  10. ↑ U25 website
  11. ↑ In dire need, personal email can help. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Oltner Tagblatt. Retrieved August 9, 2016 .
  13. ^ Matura thesis by Cedric Anthon, Peer von (U25) Switzerland. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  14. ↑ E-mail counseling methodology using the example of crisis intervention by suicidal adolescents. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  15. ↑ 20 minutes online - Depression increases after winter - Eastern Switzerland. In: www.20min.ch. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  16. ↑ The pedagogical concept of peer education in the context of media competence promotion and youth media protection. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Evaluation of BSV. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Challenges of Peer Counselors in Online Suicide Prevention. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  19. ^ Arbeitskreis Leben Freiburg eV | Help in life crises | Suicide prevention. In: www.akl-freiburg.de. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Online advice for children and adolescents with suicidal ideation and at risk of suicide. (No longer available online.) In: www.u25-freiburg.de. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016 ; accessed on September 18, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Jessica King: Suicide: When Young Save Young . In: Observer . tape 2016 , February 5, 2016, Observer 3, ISSN  1661-7444 ( observer.ch [accessed September 18, 2016]).
  22. ↑ When desperate young people find support from their peers. Retrieved September 18, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Assisted suicide (assisted suicide) and suicide in Switzerland.Retrieved on September 8, 2019
  24. ↑ Peer counseling in suicide prevention: "Young people prefer to communicate with young people" , Sozialinfo.ch, January 6, 2015