Forensic Analysis of Suicide Methods and Risk Factors Among Youth in Enugu State

Youth suicide represents a growing public health and forensic concern in Nigeria, with forensic analysis of completed suicides contributing to the evidence base for prevention programmes and causation understanding. This study analyses suicide methods and associated risk factors in youth between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five in Enugu State, drawing on forensic and medico-legal data from 2018 to 2024. A retrospective descriptive design was employed, reviewing forty-two youth suicide cases from Enugu State University Teaching Hospital and the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku-Ozalla, supplemented by interviews with eight forensic pathologists and mental health clinicians. The study examines postmortem findings, toxicological results, and available psychological and social history data to characterise risk factor patterns. Findings reveal that organophosphate pesticide ingestion was the most common method, accounting for forty-eight percent of cases, followed by hanging at thirty-three percent. Toxicological screening was completed in seventy-one percent of cases. Risk factor data available from case files and next of kin interviews identified academic pressure, relationship dissolution, and economic hardship as the most frequently documented precipitating stressors. Male gender was associated with completed suicide in sixty-seven percent of cases. Recommendations include mandatory comprehensive forensic investigation protocols for all suspected youth suicides in Enugu State and the integration of forensic findings into public mental health surveillance systems in the South East zone. Keywords: youth suicide, forensic analysis, risk factors, Enugu State, postmortem.