Assessment of Suicidal Thoughts among the Youth: The Case of Scottish Livingstone Hospital

Abstract

This is a qualitative study which assessed suicidal ideation among the youth in the Kweneng district of the Republic of Botswana. It adopted the descriptive and exploratory research design following the probability sampling procedures and, the simple random sampling techniques to select a sample of 21 respondents. The respondents were selected based on their knowledge of factors influencing youth’s suicidal ideation and those that contribute to suicidal ideation. It was established that the following factors: mental health problems (depression), behavioral problems (e.g drug and alcohol abuse) personality traits (maladaptive coping skills), and terminal illness and health conditions contributed to youth’s suicidal thoughts. It was further discovered that available services to suicidal clients are not adequate and there is shortage of staff. It was also discovered that the psychosocial interventions were not fully utilized because many clients got to know about them by the time they were admitted. It is recommended that the health policy or guidelines and/or programs should address suicidal problems amongst the youth. Furthermore, future researchers should focus more on existing gaps in service provision and their impacts on suicidal ideation.