Teenage Suicide

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Teenage Suicide
Suicide among teens has become one of the emerging issue our community. It has become the major cause of death among teens. The statistics are shocking for society, government and policy makers. It is found that almost one out of five teenagers is committing suicides. The numbers are even greater for those who attempted suicide major reasons for suicide are: the rebellious behavior, homosexuality, frustration, and hopelessness. The most popular ways of committing suicide are: using firearms, an overdose of drugs and poison.
Suicide is one of the biggest public health challenges among teenagers with self-harm being high and suicide being the second most common cause of death among teenagers globally. The main contributors to these suicide and self-harm include psychological, genetic and psychiatric vulnerability, social, familial and cultural factors. Effects of the media and its contagions are also very important, with the Internet playing the main role. To prevent suicide and self-harm universal measures have to be directed at young people in general and these initiatives have to be directed towards the high-risk groups such as the teenagers. There is very little evidence of the positive effects of psychiatric and psychological help especially with the controversy surrounding the use of antidepressants. The restriction to a means of suicide is an important way of controlling these vicesCITATION Haw12 p 1 l 1033 (Hawthon, Saunders and O’Connor 1).

The main challenges include the development of insight and understanding of the various issues that contribute to suicide in adolescents. The major needs are identification of prevention initiatives which are successful and are aimed at young people and especially those at a high risk and the establishment of quality treatments for those who may be anticipating to commit suicide or may be at a risk of being convinced to commit it CITATION ABM15 p 1 l 1033 (AB, MS and KM 1).
Suicide and suicidal attempts among teen has become the major issue that the American community is facing for many years. Various surveys and research have found that the rate of suicide among teens is continuously increasing every year (Hawton, Saunders and O’Connor 1). Moreover, the rate is higher in females as compared to male teenagers. The rate of teenage suicide is greater among Hispanic girls, which are almost 13.5%. This rate is lower inWhite teenage males, which is almost 4.6% (McLoughlin, Gould and Malone 1). It is also estimated that teenagers often commit suicide during the early years of their schools. The highly rated age of teenage suicides is from 14 to 16. Researchers have also found the suicides per year. The suicide rate is increasing every year among teenagers. In 2009, the teenage suicide rate was just 7.8%, but in 2011, it reached to 7.8%. It is also estimated that in 2013, almost 1700 teens committed suicide (Swahn et al. 1). The numbers of suicide attempts are also greater. It is also estimated that almost 5400 suicide attempts were reported in a single year.
There are certain important reasons of teenage attempts. It has been observed that a foundation of the new family system resulted in teenage suicide. The introduction of step-siblings and step-parents often causes the problems of settlement (Swahn et al.). Sometimes, the migration from one society to another or from one culture to another can also cause certain problems of the settlement. This ultimately resulted in suicide attempts. Another major reason for suicide among teens is bullying. The rate of teenage suicide is greater among the teenagers who were bullied. Moreover, this rate is greater among female teenagers because female are often bullied(Hepburn et al.). The rate of suicide among bullied teenagers is 7-9% higher (Ting et al.). Researches show that the thousands of children confined them to their houses due to bullying activities. There are various kinds of bullying that may affect the teenagers. Some of the common forms of bullying are physical and cyber (internet) bullying. Most of the teenagers often faced cyber bullying and committed suicide. Another major reason for the teenage suicide is sexual harassment. The teenagers are often sexually harassed, and this can be observed from their behaviorsCITATION Tin12 p 1 l 1033 (Ting, Sullivan and Boudreaux 1).
The cases of suicide are not only limited to specific parts of the world but are encouraged by different factors that may be affecting the teenagers. There is a gender paradox of elevated suicidality among females with higher completion rates of suicide is observed in males worldwide with exceptions of India and China. Suicide among teenagers may be substantially under-recorded by authorities responsible for making death verdicts and are very often given assumed or accidental verdicts. This is done so as to protect the families of the deceased against the stigma of suicide by the community. Statistics recorded nationally are usually available for comparison for persons aged 10-24years. Worldwide records suggest that in this group of age, the most frequently occurring type of deaths are caused by suicide being second after road accidents Variations of gender and ethnicity in suicidality are integrated within the cultural practices, historical, psychological, relational and socio-economic domainsCITATION Haw12 p 1 l 1033 (Hawthon, Saunders and O’Connor 1). The absence of mental health policies that are the child or adolescent-specific may delay the development of care and prevention of suicide.
Teenage suicide and suicide attempts have emerged as the crucial issue in the society. The numbers of teenage suicide attempts are continuously increasing. The rate is even higher among female teenage individuals. Major reasons for suicide attempts are due to bullying and family problems. It is the duty of the parents to check the daily activities of their children. If there is any change in the behavior of the children, then the parents should consult with a psychologist so that problem may be resolved in timeCITATION Haw12 p 1 l 1033 (Hawthon, Saunders and O’Connor 1).
Suicidal attempts and thoughts are most commonly caused by depression. The subject usually experiences a pronounced feeling of self-doubt, confusion, pressure to succeed, stress, financial uncertainty and other forms of fears while in the process of growth. More than 80% of their time, they are depressed very extremely, and their minds, therefore, tend to be focused on the terrible emotional pain that they are experiencing at the time. To help teens from avoiding harboring suicidal thoughts and ideas, it is good to be talking to them and keeping them in check about what they may be experiencing especially when it comes to bullying either in school or on the internet. The relationship between a parent and a teenager will help the parent understand the child, and this will provide an opportunity for the parent to advise the teenCITATION Swa121 p 1 l 1033 (Swahn , Ali and Bossarte 1). Talking to teens will help to build their confidence and help them avoid contact with the bullies. Also, helping them build healthy behavior and positive problem-solving approaches and techniques will demonstrate to teens how adults can be examples for young people by dealing with their stress in a healthy manner. Opportunities for group support can also be provided as a way of helping the teenagers open up to each other and share experiences and in the process sharing useful and proactive solutions to problems that they may be facingCITATION Swa12 p 1 l 1033 (Swahn, Bossarte and Choquet 1).
Suicidal thoughts and attempts rapidly increase during the early years of a teenager as portrayed by a survey that used pubertal stage measures in individuals of ages 12-15 years in schools in Australia and USA which illustrated that the start of the two was related to a pubertal phase, late puberty especially. Other factors that independently increase the risk of committing self -harm were depressive symptoms, misuse of alcohol and the start of the sexual activityCITATION Haw12 p 1 l 1033 (Hawthon, Saunders and O’Connor 1).
Risk factors that are associated with suicide in children and teenagers share lots of similarities with those for self-harm. It is worth taking note that the absence of evidence for other factors of risk should not be interpreted as evidence for absence. The factors to be considered tend to be more specific to the youth and include restricted educational achievement, history of a family with suicidal behavior, divorce, parental separation or death. Poor family relationships also seem to contribute to transmitting suicidal behavior by compounding genetic vulnerabilityCITATION Swa121 p 1 l 1033 (Swahn , Ali and Bossarte 1).
There are various approaches that can be used in the prevention of self-harm and suicide that include population-based measures that are aimed at all young people and measures aimed at high-risk groups. Before applying any of the approaches mentioned, it is important to consider the characteristics of teenage suicide and self-harmCITATION Swa12 p 1 l 1033 (Swahn, Bossarte and Choquet 1).
Suicide and self-harm spell the main and most pressing public health issues among teenagers globally, and there are many challenges that are inhibiting to their management and prevention. There are a lot of facts that have been established concerning their epidemiology and causes, but researchers should focus on identification of sub-types of those who commit self-harm and suicide attempts. It would also help to understand the factors that are associated with the different levels of self-harm. Understanding of how and when exposure to self-harm and suicide advances the risk of clustering, and social contagion has important clinical implications. Development and advancement of new psychological and pharmacological interventions to help reduce self-harm and suicide should be a major priority and should take Internet-based interventions. Improvement in mental health care for teenagers should also be explored as this could help them to prevent harboring of suicidal thoughts thus ending up saving their lives. Policies to promote the restriction of access to the means of committing suicide and this includes safer ways of storing pesticides. The reduction of stigma associated with problems of mental health and help-seeking is a pronounced challenge to the cause.
Works Cited
Hawton, Keith, Kate Saunders, and Rory O’Connor. ‘Self-Harm and Suicide In Adolescents’. The Lancet 379.9834 (2012): 2373-2382. Print.
This article discusses that the suicide has become the major health problem. This article also discusses several reasons for the teenage suicide. The internet and media are also playing a crucial role in the suicide of teenage. This article also suggests a certain important solution to lessen this trend.
Hepburn, Lisa et al. ‘Bullying and Suicidal Behaviors among Urban High School Youth’. Journal of Adolescent Health 51.1 (2012): 93-95. Web.
This article discusses the increasing number of suicide due to bullying in USA. The research was conducted through surveys in which school children were involved. Results show that the suicide rates are higher among students who were bullied.
McLoughlin, A. B., M. S. Gould, and K. M. Malone. ‘Global Trends in Teenage Suicide: 2003-2014’. QJM (2015): n. pag. Web.
This article discusses the increasing trends of teenage suicide around the globe. The research was done through previous literature. It also discusses suicide trends by sex and age. This article also discusses the reasons for suicide like psychological, socio-economic and historical.
Swahn, Monica H. et al. ‘Self-Harm and Suicide Attempts Among High-Risk, Urban Youth in The U.S.: Shared And Unique Risk And Protective Factors’. IJERPH 9.12 (2012): 178-191. Web.
This article discusses the reasons for suicides. The study was conducted on secondary data. The article discusses the protective factors and risk of suicide. Almost 7.5% of the respondents were among those who attempted suicide.
Swahn, Monica H. et al. ‘Early Substance Use Initiation and Suicide Ideation and Attempts among Students In France And The United States’. International Journal of Public Health 57.1 (2011): 95-105. Web.
This article finds the relationship between attempted suicide in US and France with substance usage. The study was carried by regression analysis, and data was taken from a survey by asking questions that were involved in drug usage. The ratios are different in both states, but it was also found that alcohol usage can result in suicide.
Ting, Sarah A. et al. ‘Trends In US Emergency Department Visits For Attempted Suicide And Self-Inflicted Injury, 1993–2008’. General Hospital Psychiatry 34.5 (2012): 557-565. Web.
This article provides the data of emergency departments who received the cases of attempted suicide. The data was taken for sixteen years from 1993 to 2008. Results of the study show that suicide rates are increasing.