Feed

Adolescent suicide and self-harm have become pressing global public health crises. At the 2026 Asian Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions Grand Forum on Suicide and Self-Harming Behavior in Adolescents Worldwide, researchers, clinicians, and policymakers from multiple countries presented current evidence and field experiences. This study synthesizes the forum's major presentations and discussions in the thematic areas. The forum emphasizes that South Korea continues to report one of the highest adolescent suicide rates among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and that suicide-related behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury have reached concerning levels across Asia. The cross-national evidence presented at the forum indicated a marked post-pandemic increase in adolescent suicide attempts and self-harm, with a disproportionate burden on adolescents and young women. The speakers further emphasized that aggregate national statistics could obscure the heightened risk faced by the most vulnerable subgroups. Major risk factors included psychiatric comorbidities, diminished sense of belonging, social media use, algorithm-driven content exposure, and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare access. The forum emphasized that for many adolescents, self-harm reflected not a wish to die but an attempt to escape overwhelming psychological pain. Proposed solutions centered on a paradigm shift toward primary prevention, integrated school-government-professional systems incorporating AI-based early warning, the "Safety by Design" principle for social media, community-based safe spaces, and strengthening families and communities. Adolescent suicide prevention is not solely a medical issue but a collective societal responsibility that requires international collaboration.