Every year, thousands of youth die in the United States, not by cancer, car accidents, and other diseases, but by their own hand. These people make the choice that they want to die and they take there own life. Suicide, the term given to the act of killing oneself, is the third leading cause of death among people that are 15 to 25 years of age. It is estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves during the course of one year. During the adolescent years, normal teenagers experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, and other fears while growing up. These feelings in themselves are not harmful, but normal.
However, those who can not handle these situations are ones that are prone to suicide. Many people believe that suicides are isolated incidents, but they are far from that. Suicide among teenagers is indeed an epidimic that should be focused on and dealt with immediately. This essay will focus on the causes of suicide, the signs of a person that is suicide prone, and what one should do for a person who may be a target for suicide. The main two causes for teen suicide is the mental disease of depression and family problems.
90% of teen suicide victims have at least one diagnosable, active psychiatric illness at the time of death, which is most often depression, substance abuse, or behavior disorders. Only 33-50% of victims was known by their doctors as having a mental illness at the time of their death, and only 15% were in treatment at the time of death. The pressures of modern life are greater these days and competition for good grades and college admission is difficult, which are extra stressors on already unsure teens. Some even think it’s because there is more violence in the media. Lack of parental interest may make them feel alone and anonymous.
They believe that their parents don’t understand them and when they try to express their feelings they feel that their parents either denied or ignored their attempt to communicate feelings of unhappiness, frustration, or failure. Many children grow up in divorced households or both parent’s work and their families spend little time together. Even the threat of AIDS is a factor that contributes to higher suicide rate. Stressful life events, such as the loss of an important person or school failure, often encourage suicides. People who have worked with depressed teens see a common pattern of unhappiness, feelings of inner disturbance, chaos, low self-worth, hopelessness and anger. Suicidal teens generally feel that their emotions are played down, not taken seriously, or met with opposition by other people, but it should always be taken seriously.
Those who believe in the finality of death (i. e., that there is no after-life), are the ones who advocate suicide and regard it as a matter of personal choice. On the other hand,those who firmly believe in some form of existence after death on earth, condemn suicide and judge it to be a major sin.
However, there are ways of watching for warning signs of a suicidal person and depression. Some noticeable signs that are prevalent among people thinking about suicide are talking about suicide, statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness. They may have an obsession with death or suddenly become happier and calmer. They have a loss of interest in things they usually care about.
They might stop visiting or calling people that they care about. They even start making arrangements or putting their affairs in order and give away their things. Teens should learn that with treatment, depression ends, but someone who is experiencing deep depression might not be able to think about that. They can’t see the way out of the problem and think suicide is the only choice.
Some hotlines and web sites that help with people are Counselors Counseling, Teen Suicide Help, and there are many others that exist. These people who work for these hotlines, and the counselors out there are educated to help people who are suffering from deep depression, and suicide. They don’t even have to be suicidal they might just have deep depression, and since that is one of the main causes of suicide, they are there to help them cope with their depression so that in the future they don’t have to see suicide. Certain websites that are out there supply people with lots of facts and information about suicide.
