STUDENT MORAL AND PHYSICAL SELF-DESTRUCTION

The problem of suicide and drug addiction has never been as acute in Ukraine as it is today. Kyiv University sociologists polled college and university students.

The issue was obvious to the overwhelming majority of students; 51.3% stated they were concerned about the problem without any external factors, such as friends' views, those of people they considered worth listening to, or what they had been exposed to in the mass media. In addition, these young people believed that drugs and thoughts of suicide are widespread and that the number of addicts and suicidal persons has increased sharply over the last five years, while society has become less concerned with it. The students considered that this was especially the case among students, the jobless, and businessmen.

Drug addiction was regarded by most respondents as a personal rather than social problem, pointing to one's desire to experience something new, to withdraw from harsh realities, misery, and lack of confidence as its main causes. 54.7% of the respondents admitted they had used drugs at least once.

Most believed hashish was most widespread in Ukraine, followed by marijuana. Many respondents pointed to strong drugs inducing lasting dependence such as heroin, cocaine, etc. Marijuana was in greatest demand, which is somewhat encouraging, as marijuana does not cause irreversible organic changes in the brain. Heroin was placed third (31.3% of the responded said it was popular), largely because of the clumsy media "preventive" campaign following the drug's recent widespread availability in Ukraine. Incidentally, as is often the case with food and industrial supplies to this country, the heroin procured illicitly turned out of inferior quality, but far more destructive.

The majority of student respondents were aware of the narcotics' hazards (only 8% claimed junkies should not seek medical assistance to break their addictions). However, the sad fact remains that every fourth young person thinks that using narcotic drugs is prestigious and "in." Which is all the more alarming in that young people attach great importance to prestige. True, the above indices are peculiar to the campus community, rather than the entire younger generation.

Suicidal attitudes are not directly associated with drug dependence, but in both cases the causes are in ways similar. Moreover, most attempted suicides are triggered by personal dramas. Social cataclysms, mounting poverty, instability in all spheres of life, all add up to social and psychological problems and aggression. Most young people (47.3%) pointed to the desire to rid oneself of personal problems and

hardships, once and for all, as the main reason for suicide. Lack of confidence in the immediate future was placed second (36%), closely followed by severed friendships (32.7%), and loss of ideals (31.3%), leaving poverty somewhere in the backdrop. Quite a few considered that suicides are caused by mental instability, allegedly evidencing errors in collective consciousness. Statistics show, however, that only 15% of suicides are mental cases.

Almost every third respondent stated he would do his best to prevent someone else's self-destruction. However, 11.3% said they did not care at all whether other people killed themselves. This is another alarming indicator, for 27.3% of the young people admitted they had tried to do just that, and that half of them had been saved by others. And if those others had belonged to the indifferent 11.3%?

Are there any moral supports that can keep the younger generations from slipping down this abyss? In the first place, there are common sense, religious beliefs, and a certain social climate. None of the respondents avoided the question "Do you trust in God?" Remarkably, 71% stated that religion was a very strong moral support. 60.7% believed the family could be most effective in keeping one's moral dictates, although one should not harbor any illusions, because nobody and nothing can help a person if he did not want to help himself. Naturally, experts at social and special medical institutions should be allowed to show their skills, but the respondents did not place much hope there. Only 21% thought that government-run institutions could effectively solve their problems.

Students in the arts gave a somewhat different picture. They did not consider hashish and marijuana narcotics: 90% stated they had used narcotics at least once. The fact that certain types of drugs are especially popular with them is to be explained by the guild mentality rather than moral desires. 54% had attempted suicides (the highest index among the respondent groups), and in most cases had been saved by others. This group, unlike all the other respondents, showed a steady and conscious approach to suicide.

One final statistic: among those who had tried illegal drugs 62% were men and 38% women.