Teenage Suicide

Teenage Suicide

Summary: Each year thousands of teenagers commit suicide. The individual, in seemingly hopeless conflict with the world, decides to end his or her existence in what he or she considers to be the only way out. These are usually teens who are experiencing intense psychological pain from unmet needs.

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The teenage years are a period of turmoil for just about everyone. These young adolescents are learning new social roles, developing new relationships, getting use to changes in ones body, and making decisions about ones future. The killing of own life intentionally is referred to as suicide. Each year thousands of teenagers commit suicide. The individual, in seemingly hopeless conflict with the world, decides to end his or her existence in what he or she considers to be the only way out. These are usually teens who are experiencing intense psychological pain from unmet needs. These unmet needs, such as having family problems, pressure from friends and being socially accepted, and drugs and the media, turn into depression, which causes the individual more pain. That is why the mental disease of depression is the immediate cause of teenage suicide.

It is a devastating fact that the suicide rate of teenagers has shot up in the past 40 years. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds, after auto accidents (Needlman, pg 1). One misconception of the past was that depression meant and looked like sadness. In reality, depression in teens sometimes appears when there is a loss of interest in activities that were once important, failing grades, or irritability. These teens tend to not care about anything at all, and are simply living their life with no goals for the future. Not many people realize that the number of teens who consider suicide is extremely large, and continues to grow. More than half of the teenagers from grades 9-12 in Canada in 2002 had feelings of committing suicide, made a specific plan to commit suicide, committed suicide, or committed suicide that resulted in injury. (Appendix 1). There was also a study that females from grades 9-12 are much more likely to commit suicide than males. (Appendix 2). This shows that there are many more pressures put of female teenagers nowadays.

The first unmet need that leads to depression is family problems. Although teenagers tend to be rebellious, they need to feel loved by their family. When families are constantly fighting with each other, the individual feels that he or she may not be able to keep relationships in the future. They tend to just section themselves away from their family, and do their own thing. If divorce occurs, and the teenager is forced to move in with a potential stepfather or mother, they may not be able to handle it. Teenagers need to have a stable home to go to with their mother and father there to help them. Having one parent move out may be a feeling of loss to the adolescent. 40% of teens from grades 9-12 who have committed suicide had experienced one form of loss, whether it be a death, a loss of a dream, or divorce (Adonel, pg 2). That is why parents should create a loving environment at home for their children, so they will grow up knowing that they are loved.

The second unmet need that leads to depression is pressure from friends and being socially accepted. The teenage years are a time where friends are extremely important to them. They need the feeling that they have a group of people whom they trust that they may go to for guidance. Even if their family is there for them, they still need people within their age group to be a part of their life. If the group of friends chosen are bad influences, they may pressure the teen in doing things they wouldn't normally do. If the teen isn't strong enough or isn't secure with who they are, they will do anything just to feel part of the group. Since a person can't continue faking who they really are, they begin to break down and feel that no one understands them.

"They feel frustrated and angry because their psychological need to be understood and loved is not being met." (Ellis, pg 22). Eventually they will feel that they are different from their peers, and that something is wrong with them. They feel that they are not socially accepted, and that no one likes them. When the teenager's self-esteem drops this low, they find themselves unable to establish and maintain relationships with other peers, family, teachers, and girlfriend or boyfriends. Once again, the teen sections themselves away from activities involving other people. They spend more and more time alone,