Teen Suicide

Teenage Suicide

What is suicide? Suicide is taking of one's own life. Teen suicide has been the topic of numerous news headlines but it still continues to have an effect on today's youth. In the United States, suicide is currently the eighth leading cause of death for Americans, and for young adults between the ages of 15 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death. This is extremely startling due to the fact that teen suicide is one of the most preventable forms of death. There have been numerous reasons about the leading cause of teenage suicide. Some of those leading causes of suicide among teenagers include bullying, depression or anxiety, sexuality, and reaction to everyday life.

Some research shows people who commit suicide don't give warning signs, but in all reality when someone is contemplating suicide, they almost always show warning signs of being suicidal. People contemplating suicide usually always show warning signs of what they are planning. They typically give some type of warning that they are going to commit suicide before they actually follow through. As long as people do not take warning signs for granted, then it should be easier to persuade their loved ones that living is definitely worth all of the struggles people face throughout their lifetime. According to the Mental Health Association, some warning signs include repeated expressions of hopelessness, helplessness, or desperation, behavior that is out of character, such as recklessness in someone who is normally careful, signs of depression and sleeplessness, social withdrawal, loss of appetite, loss of interest in usual activities, a sudden and unexpected change to a cheerful attitude, giving away prized possessions to friends and family, making a will, taking out insurance, or other preparations for death, such as telling final wishes to someone close, making remarks related to death and dying, or an expressed intent to commit suicide.

Bullying is, by far, is becoming one of the leading causes of teenage suicide. It isn't unheard of to hear news stories explaining how another teenager has committed suicide as a result of bullying. Bullying has been a major controversy in schools for many years, and that it will continue to be an issue for many years to come unless we do something about it. I do believe that people are beginning to take bullying more seriously than they have in past years. I recently watched a movie about high school bullying with my fifteen year old daughter. I think the movie opened my eyes more than it did hers, I'm sure she sees it happening every day in some form. A majority of bullying takes place during our elementary and high school years and it is no secret that kids can be beyond cruel. Peer pressure is reported to be a frequent reason as to why students feel the need to bully their peers. Many people have experienced bullying in some way throughout their lifetime. Some people were victims of bullying and others were the ones doing the bullying. It isn't rare to hear that someone who has been a victim of bullying in the past began bullying other people. ABC news reported that almost 30 percent of students are bullies or bullying victims. Many programs have been put into place to help teens. These programs include B.R.A.V.A (Bully Resistance And Violence Avoidance Program), Champions Against Bullying, Amazing Play Program, I Decide, Peace by PEACE, T.E.A.C.H (Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia), Reach for the Stars, The RISE (Respect in Schools Everywhere) Program, Stand Up Against Bullying, and Together We Can Stop Bullying. These programs encourage unity and harmony, and they aspire to stop bullying.

Another common belief about suicide is that every person who commits suicide or is contemplating committing suicide is depression. Although depression is a leading cause of suicide, not every person who commits suicide does so because they are depressed; there are other factors that play a part in teen suicide. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are other mental disorders that have been proven to be causes of suicide. When a teen falls under this category counseling and medication need to be started as soon as possible, before the depression or mental disorder takes over and the teen goes too far. Teens with bipolar disorder are more likely to commit suicide due to the fact that although they might feel fine a majority of the time, there may also be times when they feel extremely depressed. Depression is highly treatable, but the problem with a lot of teens is that they do not realize that they are depressed; therefore, they don't get the proper treatment needed to overcome depression. They don't realize that there are other solutions opposed to suicide, and they don't realize that the decision to commit suicide as