The novel 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, is a trending topic these days among teenagers and concerned parents, especially after Netflix released the drama series based on the book.

For those that are not familiar with this novel, it basically tells the story of a teenage girl, Hannah Baker, who kills herself and left behind a series of tapes for the people she blames for her suicide, explaining how they are related and how their actions affected her. The trailer follows:

The book and the show have quickly gained popularity and many young teens in many countries around the world, including Costa Rica are already familiar with it.

Talking about teenage suicide or suicide in general, is a complex and sensitive subject, it is not a topic that should be taken lightly, and the fact that so many teens are being exposed to this reality raises a lot of concerns among adults.

According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the second cause of death among people 15-29 years-old.

In an article by national newspaper La Nación from 2014, the Panamerican Health Organization cites Costa Rica as the country with the second highest suicide rate in Central America.

In Costa Rica in the year 2015 there were a total of 328 suicides, out of these 37 cases where of people under 19 years of age, and 7 corresponded to teens under 15-years-old.

Specialists of the Costa Rica Children’s Hospital cited bullying, family violence, emotional problems, self-esteem problems, eating disorders, among the main causes for teenage suicide.

Suicide continues to be one of the taboos of the contemporary society, a reality no one wants to talk about and that therefore is not addressed in a positive way, not at home, not at school; specialists differ on the best way to handle this topic. Some consider that informing and talking about suicide increases the risk of imitation, the theory of social learning that was developed among others by Albert Bandura. Other psychologists consider talking about suicide a positive practice.

This book, and the series based on it, takes the cat out of the bag, and is exposing a situation parents and educators are not sure how to handle and in many cases, don’t have the tools to properly manage it.

The Netflix series is much more graphic and crude than the book, recommended only for mature audiences. The book although less graphic is still disturbing.

“As adults, we tend to forget what it was like when we were younger, for children and teenagers a small problem can be a true tragedy and affect them emotionally in many levels; perhaps many of the reasons Hannah gives in the book are not seen as an important or strong reason by adults, they could even seem absurd, but adults must read the book and/or watch the series and analyze it from the perspective of a teenager, the problems cited here, “slut-shaming”, bullying, indifference, negligence, are real problems, many which our teenagers face today, especially with the use of social media and technology in general, and that many times are not managed or addressed properly”, explained psychologist Sarita Alvarez.

“Parents need to be aware of what their children are watching, especially as teenagers, and they need to be there to help them understand, they need to be there to listen”, she concluded.

On the bright side, 13 Reasons Why, can be a great tool to raise awareness, not just about suicide prevention, but also about the consequences that bullying, gossiping and other conducts may have; in the days where cyber-bullying is so frequent, teenagers need to be made aware of the possible consequences of their actions.

In Costa Rica some institutions work in the prevention of suicide, for instance students from the Sciences of Communication School of the University of Costa Rica, created a short film titled, “The Color Red” to bring attention to this problematic, (included below) this was used by the Ministry of Public Education as part of a prevention program in schools in Costa Rica.

Other institutions that can provide help in the prevention of suicide in Costa Rica Include:

Foundation Rescuing Lives: 2273-0381 and 8715-0551
Foundation Mi Nueva Aurora: 8366-4646
Teensmart International: 2253-5618
Costa Rican Association of Study and Prevention of Suicide and Self-destructive conducts: 8835-9232
Teenagers can call the help line 1147 from PANI