Teenage Suicide Essay, Research Paper

SUICIDESuicide is intentional self-inflicted acts that end indeath(”Suicide,” Compton’s). After a series of traumaticevents, normal coping abilities can be pushed over the edge;the result may be suicide. In each year, an average of30,000 suicide deaths occur in the United States. It isestimated that 5,000 of those suicides are committed byteenagers(SAVE, 2). One major reason that the suicide rateamong teenagers is so high, is that the teenage years are aperiod of commotion. New social roles are being learned,new relationships are being developed, bodily changes areoccurring, and decisions about the future are being madeduring the teenage years. Teenagers tend to commit suicide after large changes,significant losses, or abuse has occurred in their lives.An important change in a relationship, school or body imagemay contribute to a teenagers’ tendency to commit suicide.The death of a loved one, the loss of a valued relationship,and the loss of self esteem are some significant losseswhich might be a factor in teen suicide(”The Real World[Suicide: Facts],” 1). Perceived abuse such as physical,emotional, psychological, sexual, social abuse or neglectcan lead to self-murder(”Teen Suicide,” 3). Significantchanges, losses, and abuse can promote suicidal tendencies. Few suicidal people have some type of depression, yetthose who have one can be provoked to commit suicide. Thereare two main types of depression suffered by(, 2)suicidal people(”Suicide,” {Grolier}). The first type isreactive depression. This type of depression is thereaction of a difficult and often traumatic experience.Endogenous depression is the second type of depression. Itis the result of a mental illness which is diagnosable by aprofessional. Some suicidal people have a combination ofboth reactive depression and endogenous depression. Otherscould have a depression which is undiagnosed. A persistentsad mood, thoughts of suicide, persistent physical painsthat do not respond to treatment, difficulty concentrating,irritability and fatigue are some symptoms ofdepression(American Psychiatric Association, 4). If aperson has four or more of the symptoms lasting for morethan two weeks, that person could have a type of depression. Those people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia andclinical depression have much higher suicide rates thanaverage(Tom Arsenault, 2). Teenagers display warning signs of suicide. Theindications come in two ways. First exhibited are the earlywarning signs. These signs include difficulties in school,depression, drug abuse, sleep and eating disturbances, and aloss of interest in activities. Restlessness, feelings offailure, overreaction to criticism, overly self-critical,anger, and a preoccupation with death or Satan are also somesignals teenagers contemplating suicide will give(”TeenSuicide,” (, 3)3). The other type of clues are late warning signs.Talking about death, neglecting appearance, a feeling ofhopelessness, a sudden improvement in personality, andgiving away possessions are some of the typical late warningsigns given by a suicidal teenager(”Teen Suicide,” 4). Noteveryone who portrays these symptoms is suicidal. In orderto know if a person is really thinking about committingsuicide, someone needs to ask them. Offering other ways to

deal with a suicidal persons’ problems, may save their life.Most teenagers contemplating suicide would not commit it, ifthey knew of another way out. By talking with someone whois suicidal, that person might see that there are people wholove them. Despite the efforts of people to stop a teenager fromcommitting suicide, some succeed. The statistics ofconsidered and completed suicide are shocking. Ten percentof teenage boys admit that they have attempted suicide.Girls in their teens have a much higher percentage(eighteenpercent), which will admit that they unsuccessfully tried tocommit suicide. A teenager in 1990 was twice as likely todie from suicide than a teenager growing up in 1960. One ofthe most startling teenage suicide facts is that since 1961,there has been a tripling of completed teenage suicide(”TheReal World [Suicide: Facts],” 1-3). When a teenager is able to successfully commit suicide,they leave behind family and friends. In a(, 4)normal death situation, people usually feel grief. When ateenager performs suicide, family and friends left behindexperience many feelings. A feeling of confusion and greatdistress over unresolved issues is very common. Familymembers and friends often feel anger and resentment after asuicide. These emotions can cause friends and family tobecome very isolated feeling. A friend or family member mayfind that it is difficult to relate to other people after asuicide. These people may decide that other people viewthem as a failure because they were unable to stop someoneclose to them from committing suicide. A fear of formingnew relationships after a person has completed suicide iscommon. People feel that by creating new relationships,they might be hurt and experience the same pain they aregoing through. In order to help people who haveexperienced the suicide of someone they deeply cared about,”survivor groups” have been created (”Suicide-FrequentlyAsked Questions,” 6). Knowing they will be accepted withoutbeing judged or condemned, helps a person go to a “survivorgroup.” At a meeting, the people’s intense burden ofunresolved feelings may be lessened. Suicide is the third leading killer amongteenagers(SAVE-Suicide AwarenessVoices of Education, 6).Suicide can be committed for a number of reasons. Anyonewho talks about suicide, should be taken to see aprofessional. The most important way to prevent suicide(, 5)is to talk. (, 6)

American Psychiatric Association. “Teen Suicide.” APA Joint Commission on Public Affairs and the Division of Public Affairs. 1988. Pages 1-5. Arsenault, Tom. “Did You Know?” http://www.save.org/ index.html//[email protected]. 1996. Pages 1-4. “The Real World [Suicide: Facts].” http://www.paranois. com/%7Ereal/suicide/facts.html. 1996. Pages 1-3. SAVE-Suicide AwarenessVoices of Education. http://www. save.org. 1996. Pages 1-6. “Suicide.” Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia. Compton’s NewMedia, Inc. 1994. “Suicide-Frequently Asked Questions.” Oxford University Libraries Automation Service. http://www.lib.ox. ac.uk/internet/news/faq/archive/suicide.info.html. 19 July 1996. Pages 1-8. “Suicide.” Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1995. “Teen Suicide.” American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1996. Pages 1-5.