Statistics
From 1952-1995, the incidence of suicide among adolescents and young adults nearly tripled. From 1980-1997, the rate of suicide among persons aged 15-19 years increased by 11 % and among persons aged 10-14 years by 119%. Currently suicide is deemed to be the third leading cause of death amongst young people between the ages of 15 and 24, behind unintentional injury and homicide. Among persons aged 15-19 years, firearm-related suicides accounted for 62% of the increase in the overall rate of suicide from 1980-1997. (NCIPC, 2002).
Rates of homicide among youths 15-19 years of age reached record-high levels in the latter half of the 1980s and continue to be among the highest ever recorded in the US for this age group. Between 1985 and 1991, annual homicide rates among males 15-19 years old increased 154 %, surpassing the rates of youths in the 25-29 and 30-34 year age groups. Homicide rates for young males began to decline in 1994 and dropped 34% between 1993 and 1997. In 1997, the rate of homicide among males 15-19 years of age declined 12.4% in one year. Despite this encouraging trend, rates are still unacceptably high. Homicide is the second leading cause of death for persons 15-24 years of age and is the leading cause of death for young African-Americans. In each year since 1988, more than 80% of homicide victims 15 to 19 years of age were killed with a firearm. In 1997, 85% of homicide victims 15 to 19 years of age were killed with a firearm (NCIPC, 2000).
Suggested causes
Research shows that there are a number of individual and social factors that increase the probability of violence during adolescence and young adulthood. Some of these factors clustered in four areas include
- A history of early aggression, beliefs supportive of violence and social cognitive deficits in the adolescent.
- Parents that poorly monitor or supervise they children, expose them to violence, abuse alcohol or drugs and to whom the adolescent has developed a poor emotional attachment.
- Association with peers engaged in high risk or problem behavior, a history of low commitment to school and low academic achievement.
- Neighborhoods characterized by poverty and diminished economic opportunity, high levels of transiency, family disruption and exposure to violence. (NCIPC, 2000)
Whilst youth violence and especially homicides are a phenomenon that pertains mostly to the lower socio-economical classes, teen suicide crosses all class and race boundaries. No one has advanced a good theory explaining why teens are taking their own lives in greater numbers in recent years (O’Connor, 2000). Suicides may be triggered by events such as the loss of a boyfriend, poor school grades, an unwanted pregnancy, a recent fight with parents, problems integrating with peers (Santrock, 1999). But if we look deeper we can often see the presence of ongoing problems such as
- Relationship with parents and family: a history of lack of attention and family support, pressure for achievement put onto the young adult or a history of abuse within the family ( Santrock, 1999).
- Undiagnosed mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety (NIMH, 2000).
- A history of substance abuse, often used to self-medicate symptoms of depression or to be accepted within peer groups(O’Connor, 2000; Santrock, 1999);
- A history of disruptive behavior: we tend to think of potential suicides as sensitive, shy people who are overwhelmed by life, but suicides are also committed by the cocky and obnoxious type of adolescent who’s continually getting in trouble and keeping the world at arm's length through aggressive behavior. These are also symptoms of self-destructive tendencies (O’Connor, 2000).
- A recent experiencing of a traumatic event (suicidal tendencies in this case could be seen as a result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-PSTD) ( O’Connor, 2000)
- A history of previous suicide attempts, as once an adolescent has attempted suicide, further attempts are likely to occur (O’Connor, 2000).
- Easy access to firearms (O’Connor, 2000; NCIPC, 2002)
Prevention and solutions
In the area of youth violence prevention may be achieved by making changes on many different levels:
- Providing positive role models in the community for males, so that young males do not identify their value with physical prowess, toughness and the search for thrills and action alone.
- Increasing community and witness intolerance for violence
- Teaching conflict resolution skills for young men
- Reducing availability of firearms
- Reducing alcohol and drug consumption
- Reducing televised media violence and access to violent video games
- Reducing poverty and unemployment
- Reducing racial segregation and discrimination
In the area of teen suicides, suicide can be possibly be avoided by:
- A more active awareness of the potential for suicide in adolescents and young adults (O’connor, 2000)
- Screening for possible mood disorders through tests in schools (NIMH, 2000)
- Teachers and parents being aware of signs of depression in teens. These usually manifest as general unhappiness, gradual withdrawal into helplessness and apathy, isolated behavior, drop in school performance, loss of interest in activities that formerly were sources of enjoyment, feelings of worthlessness, fatigue or lack of energy or motivation, change in sleep and eating habits, self-neglect, preoccupation with sad thoughts or death, loss of concentration, increase in physical complaints, sudden outbursts of temper, reckless or dangerous behavior, increased drug or alcohol abuse , irritability; restlessness (O’Connel, 2000)
- Teachers and parents being aware of most common signs displayed by pre-suicidal adolescents such as talking about death and wanting to die, suicidal thoughts, plans, or fantasies, giving away personal possessions, telling a friend about suicidal plans and writing a suicidal note (O’Connor, 2000).
- Providing the adolescent and its family with suitable short-term therapy and counseling (NIMH, 2000)
- Reducing alcohol and substance abuse (O’Connor, 2000;NCIPC, 2000)
- Reducing availability of firearms (O’Connor, 2000; NCIPC, 2000)
Final comments
It is obvious from the statistics that adolescents and young people in our society are crying out for help like never before. The pressures of the modern world are many and our youth is struggling to make sense of it all. The young people in the lower economical section of society are mainly coping by using drugs and acting out violently, but suicide and depression are increasing for all. Mental health professionals are using more and more psychotropic drugs as the solution to the symptoms displayed by our troubled teens. But sometimes the solution can be part of the problem, as the side effects of many antidepressants and amphetamine-based drugs such as Ritalin are outbursts of violence and an increased confidence in acting out suicidal plans. Also, we should think deeply about our society, if the only way to keep our teens alive or engaged is to drug them or sedate them. The depression and discontent of our youth, acted against self or others is a very serious affair. It is ironic that economic problems and stress lead to the two main causes of death in teens in the richest nation of the world. I feel it might be time we start to rethink the values on which our society is based. One small step could be to pass more restrictive legislation on firearms. Other changes require deeper work, a true rethinking of our society’s priorities. Intentions in social reform need to be real rather than political. We need to find a solution to the difficulties experienced by our families, build a new sense of community in our neighborhoods and schools and find meaningful forms of
We need to start thinking about providing our young with a world worth living for.
©2004 Katie Gallanti. All rights reserved. http://katiespapaers.blogspot.com. This article was a psychology paper for a class in developmental psychology.
Bibliography
AACAP, 2004. Retrieved from www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/suicide.htm
Santrock J. 1999. Life- span development- seventh edition. McGraw Hill College.
FDA/CDER, 2003. Questions and Answers on Paxil. Retrieved from www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/paxil/paxilQ&A.htm
NCIPC. 2002. Suicide amongst the young. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm
NIMH, 2000 Depression in children and adolescents. Retrieved from www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depchildresfact.cfm
Mind, 2004. Suicide in Young People. Retrieved from www.mind.org.uk
O’Connor, R. 2000. Teen suicide. Retrieved from www.focusas.com/Suicide.html
SAVE, 2003. Symptoms and danger signs. Retrieved from www.save.org/depressed/symptoms.html
Surgeon General, 1999. At a glance: Suicide amongst the young. Retrieved from www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction/fact3.htm
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