As every year, on 10 September World Suicide Prevention Day was commemorated. It constitutes an essential occasion for breaking the silence surrounding this issue and for urgently placing it at the heart of public and professional debate. The current figures are startling: in Spain, 11 people die due to suicide every day, making it the leading cause of non-natural death.[1] In Catalonia, in 2024 it became the second leading cause of non-natural death, having occupied first place until 2023.

The figures relating to children and adolescents are of particular concern. In 2024 alone, suicides among young people aged 15 to 19 increased by 20% compared with the previous year, while in the 10-to-14 age group deaths by suicide doubled. According to the Observatory on Suicide in Spain, 18% of adolescents have attempted suicide at some point, more than 50% have thought about doing so, and 29% of those who engage in self-harm did so for the first time at the age of 12.

[1] The data mentioned in the text come from various sources including the Observatory on Suicide in Spain 2023 (https://www.fsme.es/observatorio-del-suicidio-2023/) and were presented at the conference “Tools for Preventing and Addressing Suicidal Behaviour”, organised by the Mental Health Board in Sant Cugat del Vallès on 17 September 2025.