Two decades of adolescent suicides assessed at Milan University's medicolegal unit: epidemiology, forensic pathology and psychopathology

Aim to analyze the cases of suicide committed by adolescents in and around the city of Milan over a 20-year period (1993-2012). Materials and methods cases of suicide involving individuals between 10 and 19 years of age were drawn from 20,757 autopsies performed by the Medico-legal Unit at Milan University. Seventy-eight cases were considered (20 females and 58 males, with the ratio of 1:2.9), and their clinical and circumstantial histories, epidemiology, forensic pathology and psychopathological issues were analyzed. Result Adolescents were involved in 2.23% of all suicides committed in Milan during the period examined. The "mean" victim is a male without psychiatric disease, aged between 16 and 19, that commits suicide outdoors. Conclusions In the majority of cases, there were no premonitory signs, nor any particular contingent or remote reason that might explain these violent deaths, which therefore remain "impulsive".