Suicide is intentional self-inflicted acts that end in
death("Suicide," Compton's). After a series of traumatic
events, normal coping abilities can be pushed over the edge;
the result may be suicide. In each year, an average of
30,000 suicide deaths occur in the United States. It is
estimated that 5,000 of those suicides are committed by
teenagers(SAVE, 2). One major reason that the suicide rate
among teenagers is so high, is that the teenage years are a
period of commotion. New social roles are being learned,
new relationships are being developed, bodily changes are
occurring, and decisions about the future are being made
during 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 image
may 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 losses
which might be a factor in teen suicide("The Real World
[Suicide: Facts]," 1). Perceived abuse such as physical,
emotional, psychological, sexual, social abuse or neglect
can lead to self-murder("Teen Suicide," 3). Significant
changes, losses, and abuse can promote suicidal tendencies. Few suicidal
people have some type of depression, yet
those who have one can be provoked to commit suicide. There
are two main types of depression suffered by (, 2)
suicidal people("Suicide," {Grolier}). The first type is
reactive depression. This type of depression is the
reaction of a difficult and often traumatic experience. Endogenous depression
is the second type of depression. It
is the result of a mental illness which is diagnosable by a
professional. Some suicidal people have a combination of
both reactive depression and endogenous depression. Others
could have a depression which is undiagnosed. A persistent
sad mood, thoughts of suicide, persistent physical pains
that do not respond to treatment, difficulty concentrating,
irritability and fatigue are some symptoms of
depression(American Psychiatric Association, 4). If a
person has four or more of the symptoms lasting for more
than two weeks, that person could have a type of depression. Those people
with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and
clinical depression have much higher suicide rates than
average(Tom Arsenault, 2).
Teenagers display warning signs of suicide. The
indications come in two ways. First exhibited are the early
warning signs. These signs include difficulties in school,
depression, drug abuse, sleep and eating disturbances, and a
loss of interest in activities. Restlessness, feelings of
failure, overreaction to criticism, overly self-critical,
anger, and a preoccupation with death or Satan are also some
signals teenagers contemplating suicide will give("Teen
Suicide," (, 3)
3). The other type of clues are late warning signs.
Teen suicide can result from a number of scenarios. When you hear of teens who commit suicide, a lot of people would think it's due to the most common cases which are unhappiness or depression. But in fact, there are different factors to what causes suicide. For an example, as stated in the article Teen Suicide from Kids Health, teens attempt suicide for multiple reasons. These reasons revolve around psychological problems such as anxiety, bipolar disorders, or drug abuse or even dealing with bisexuality or homosexuality in an unsupportive family or hostile school environment. The individuals who usually face th...
“You cannot create experience, you must undergo it.” In the story The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, the protagonist undergoes an experience in which he comes face to face with the inevitability of death. The piece is abundant with imagery, careful diction, and religious undertone. McCarthy employs these literary devices in order to convey the protagonist’s deep concern for a wounded wolf he encounters in the wilderness and his quiet sense of reverence, loss and even fear when confronted by the animal’s death.
Attempts at suicide, and suicidal thoughts of feelings are usually symptom indicating that a person isn?t coping, often as a result of some event or series of events that they personally find overwhelmingly traumatic or distressing. In many cases, the events in question will pass, their impact can be mitigated, or their overwhelming nature will gradually fade if the person is able to make constructive choices about dealing with the crisis when person is able to make constructive choices about dealing with the crisis when it is at its worst. Suicide is intentional self-inflicted acts that end in death.
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established that 6.3% of high school students have attempted suicide in the preceding year. Given the lethal consequences of suicide attempts, determining risk factors among adolescents becomes especially important. Generally speaking, psychiatric disorders and substantial psychosocial impairments are known to be associated with suicide attempts. However, previous research attempting to identify specific risk factors in adolescents is somewhat ambiguous. Nonetheless, one thing is consistent. When measuring the risk of an adolescent committing suicide, information must come from a variety of sources and perspectives. These sources may include but are not limited to a clinical interview with the adolescent, information provided by the parent or guardian, standardized assessments and previous psychiatric documents from the individual.
A mother finds her 17 year old teenage son hanging from the rafters of their basement. To hear of this occurrence is not rare in society today. Every 90 minutes a teenager in this country commits suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. The National suicide rate has increased 78% between 1952 and 1992. The rate for 15-19 year olds rose from two per 100,000 to 12.9, more than 600 percent. (Special report, Killing the Pain, Rae Coulli)
Suicide). Suicidal behaviors occur as a response to a situation that the person views as
...appen to anyone. The person can experience feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, unacceptance, withdrawal, and thoughts of suicide. There is no exact cause and there is no prescribed cure. Depression seems to be caused by life situations and if the symptoms of depression seem to last more than two weeks then it is classified as Major Depressive Disorder. Symptoms of SAD will resemble Major Depressive Disorder. There are many treatments for Major Depression Disorder but how good the treatment works depends on the person.
Clinical depression is a serious medical condition. It is not a case of "the blues", or being sad sometimes. Clinical depression is sadness that never goes away for those who have it. Sometimes it can be treated, and sometimes it is just something that will never be solved. Other symptoms of Clinical Depression may include, having self hate, feeling sad, anxious, or having “empty”feelings. Feelings of hopelessness,guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness. Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, angry, fatigue and decreased energy (Clinical Depression). Also difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions, Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping, overeating, or appetite loss, and lastly thoughts of suicide (Clinical Depression).
The more a question is argued the better that question becomes it is often said. That question begins to grow and the side effect of this is the more people it reaches. Whether that question can be put into a category of right or wrong it begs to be answered. Knowledge is something that people instinctively need to function when faced with a problem, an answer must be found or it begins to form eminent possibility in any direction. The problem is a question that no one can truly answer for anyone other than the person faced with it, which is one's own self. The arguments from either side of this philosophical problem must not be centered around one's own belief but all that share the dilemma, which is in fact every human being. Suicide, that is the one thing that every person who is physically capable has the ability to do. The philosophical question of suicide is truly a serious one, so serious in fact that some have proclaimed it to be the only question. To live or to die, a choice that some hold so high as to say it is the only one problem any one person can face. This problem is one seen by many as a philosophical problem and that idea does hold ground. Grounds being that if one dies then the other questions do not really matter in life, as with the invert of this to live. When one is alive all philosophical question matter every second that one is breathing but can be all can be ended with one act. So if life is the beginning of all the problems, then suicide is the ending to every problem. With such a serious question many will have very enlighten and fictitious answers on the philosophical problem of suicide. The philosophical problem of suicide will have supporters and opponents and those people have adequate support...
There are multiple negative effects of teen suicide. Large numbers of teens that do not have support from friends, peer groups, family, or religious association may and can feel isolated from the world and disconnected. (Larry’s). The tragedy of a young person dying as a result of overwhelming hopelessness is devastating to everyone. Suicide rates differ between boys and girls. Girls think about and attempt suicide about twice as often as boys, and attempt suicide by overdosing. Boys die by suicide about four times as often as girls, due to using more lethal methods, such as firearms, hanging, or jumping from heights. (Nock). There are several different factors that may lead a teenager to take their life, but the most common is depression. Feelings of hopelessness and anxiety, along with feelings of being trapped in a life that one cannot handle, are contributors to teen suicide. It is important to be on the lookout for signs that your teen may attempt suicide. Some of the warning signs are similar to normal adolescent behavior. At times, preventing teen suicide means treating teen depression. Since 75 percent of the people who commit suicide are depressed (according to the University of Texas), it is a beneficial start to begin treating the symptoms of teen depression. (Teen Suicide Overview).
Depression is the major cause of suicidal thoughts and ideas. After a long enough period of time, people become worn down and become less and less happy. Depression can affect anyone, rich, poor, young, old, race, or religion (D-1). Depression is a medical condition dealing with the functioning of brain chemicals and emotions, that make any person susceptible. Common causes of depression include death, romance, divorce, or moving (D-2).
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause for 5 to 14 year olds. Suicide accounts for twelve percent of the mortality in the adolescent and young adult group. Young males are more common than young woman suicides. These are only children who followed through with the suicide. For every successful suicide there are fifty to one hundred adolescent suicide attempts. In other words, more than five percent of all teenagers tried to commit suicide, and the number is still rising. It is scary to think that four percent of high school students have made a suicide attempt within the previous twelve months. In a small safe town like Avon, in the Avon High School where you and I practically live, you can see the faces of 22 students that have tried to commit suicide. That is enough to fill a classroom.
Now the eighth-leading cause of death overall in the U.S. and the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, suicide has become the subject of much recent focus. U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, for instance, recently announced his Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 1999, an initiative intended to increase public awareness, promote intervention strategies, and enhance research. The media, too, has been paying very close attention to the subject of suicide, writing articles and books and running news stories. Suicide among our nation’s youth, a population very vulnerable to self-destructive emotions, has perhaps received the most discussion of late. Maybe this is because teenage suicide seems the most tragic—lives lost before they’ve even started. Yet, while all of this recent focus is good, it’s only the beginning. We cannot continue to lose so many lives unnecessarily.
Suicidal tendencies in adolescents begin around the ages of 10 through 19, with warning signs, prevention, treatment, and the causes and effects it has on the human psyche. Suicide is when someone decides to take his or her own life because they are suffering from a painful mental illness and have lost hope in who they are. Because when hope is lost, some feel like suicide is the only solution to truly make the adolescent pain go away permanently. Scientific evidence that shows the people who have committed suicide have a diagnosable treatable mental disorder or substance abuse disorder (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2010). Those people might have been suffering from illnesses such as depression, mood disorders, personality disorders, and or suffering from bullying.