Teen Suicide

Causes of Teen Suicide:

Adolescent Confusion, Stress, and Depression

I have had a first-hand experience with teen suicide. Everyone says your senior year of high school should be the best year or your life. You are one step closer to that freedom you always dreamed of, and you will have the best times with your friends since you will all never be together again. The seniors at Wildwood High see is differently because that was the year when a close friend committed suicide.

December 13, 2004, started out like any other Saturday morning. I was heading down to my aunt's store when a cop flew by me and turned down Matt's street. I didn't think much of it until a coroner's van flew by with a cop car behind it. When I was heading home I saw that same van parked in front of Matt's house with the ambulance backed in the driveway. I thought to myself maybe it was a neighbor, but in the back of my mind I knew something wasn't right. Matt had not been himself for weeks. He rarely came to school, he distance himself, and was very depressed. Everyone was worried about him, expect his mom. She thought this was normal for a high school student because of the stress he was going through.

Later that day my aunt called, and told me to put my mom on. I could tell she was upset, so right then I knew Matt was dead. Ten minutes later my Pop-Pop came over and sat with my mom as they told me Matt commit suicide. I was devastated because I just talked to him the day before and he seemed better. He told us he was feeling better and he might go out with us that Saturday night. But he wasn't, and a friend which I have had since pre-school is now gone. My experience with teen suicide has led me to want to research what is driving teens to commit suicide these days. From my research, I have learned teens that commit suicide may suffer from adolescent confusion, are highly stressed, and very depressed.

The National Mental Health Association states that teen suicide is, "third leading cause of death in adolescents and the second leading cause of death among college age youth." ("Suicide") Since 1960 the rate of teen suicide has tripled, so now the number of teens committing suicide is now over five thousand. ("Suicide"). The reason for the increase is that "the fastest growing age group attempting suicides are children between the ages of 10 and 14." ("Suicide Statistics")

Some people would say that adolescent confusion has a small role in teens committing suicide. Adolescent confusion can range sexuality confusion to being young and not know what comes next in your life. Recent studies by Kids Health For Parents said that teens, "that are dealing with homosexual feelings in an unsupportive family or community or hostile school environment" have a higher rate of committing suicide then any other group of teens. ("Understanding") This is because they feel that no one is supportive of them so they have no one to turn to which leads them to suicide. Another was teens are confused is because when you are young you still don't have a sense of life. You don't know what is going to happened to you in years down the line. You still are maturing so you have to stick it out, and not think suicide is a solution to any problem that you can't fix.

Many sources that I have looked at say that stress is another cause of teen suicide. According to Wholistic Stress Control Institute, "Stress is how one's body reacts to change can be called stress. These changes can come from feelings, situations, and people. For example, going to a new school is a change that can cause stress." ("Teen Stress") Any stress event like getting into college, family life, peer pressure, and sports can all play roles in teen suicides. Teens now are more pressured than ever to succeed in school and sports. The pressure from the family makes it harder for teens to want to move on. Teens when faced with a hard problem, like stress, want to find the easy way out which makes them want to give up and suicide