“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” - Phil Donahue. As a complex, tragic public health issue, suicide occurs in men significantly more often than in women. Suicide is simply defined as the act of intentionally ending one’s own life, however, the factors that play into a person making that decision are anything but simple. The most evident and severe effect of suicide is the loss of a valuable, meaningful human life. According to Harvard School of Public Health (n.d.), suicide affects parents, children, siblings, friends, lovers, and spouses; the loss to society is psychological, spiritual, and financial. People who lose a loved one to suicide often experience devastating effects and deal with a complex grief. These
The American society impacts thousands of LGBT people annually. Estimating around 9 million Americans identify as being lesbian, gay, bisexual and or transgender (Gates). Each of these people are personally impacted by our society annually. Many personal stories have come out about the hardships they have to go through. In particular, a recent story that sparked action in the U.S; the story of Leelah Alcorn a 17-year-old suicide victim who experienced bullying, a disapproving family, discrimination and violence against her identifying as transgender. She identified herself as a female she learned about who she truly was from her inner psyche. Because of her depressive thoughts and constant discrimination, she walked in front of oncoming traffic on interstate 71. Leelah sought
Local Suicide Contagion: Causes and Effects On October 5, 2016, Fowlerville High School freshman, Brendan Kangas, committed suicide. His whole school and community was struck with grief, previously unaware of Brendan’s battle with depression. The next day school was held on schedule, and it was a very unproductive day. According to the faculty, kids were crying in classrooms, and uninstructed teachers did not know how to handle the situation (Brent). Many Fowlerville students have struggled academically, unable to cope with the news of Brendan’s death. Fowlerville was not prepared to handle such a crisis and administrators were unaware of the effect Brendan’s suicide would have on the school. Since then, several other students in Brendan’s community have attempted to take their lives as well (Brent). Suicide has not only a problem in
First Last Mr. XXXXXXXX English 9 - Period 7 March 4, XXXX Teen Suicide Suicide is a major problem worldwide; especially for teenagers. Self image plays a big roll in American society today, especially in enabling someone to make a wrong and destructive decision like suicide. Self image and low esteem effect the chances of a teenagers suicide greatly. There are many events that lead up to a young persons suicide, for instance a little problem that seems inescapable which manifests themselves into overwhelming burdens. Detection and prevention are both key for adults and young people to stop suicide from happening.
Maya Young (her name is misspelled in the article), a 25 year old trans woman of color, was brutally murdered on Sunday, February 21st. She was a self professed geek who loved music, video games and playing Magic the Gathering. Like so many trans people she turned to prostitution to make enough money to live. In an interview a friend and former roommate who called her 'Twix', due to a birthmark on her face; said 'She was sweet, like candy. She loved people and loved being around people. She was a dreamer.'
Assisted Suicide There was once a man who had brain cancer. The man was not getting better he was getting worried and worried every day. One day he just gave up, he had so much pain he just want to die. So he asks the nurse to kill and the nurse
Introduction Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender youth suicide continues to be a problem in many different countries but very limited data has been gathered about this social issue internationally. While it is well-known that it is still ongoing problem in many countries such as: Israel where a study of 1,134 teenagers were surveyed and results show that 20% of these teenagers have attempted suicide, which is 112 times the rate of the general population. The study also showed that the rate is even higher for LGBT teenagers who have religious backgrounds (Roberts, 2012). In Australia, LGBT youth have the highest rates of suicidality. 20% of transgendered and 15.7% of lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians have reported current suicidal ideation. Same-sex attracted Australians have up to fourteen times higher rates of suicide attempts compared to heterosexual peers. The rate is six times higher for homosexual adolescents (Rosenstreich, 2013). Lastly, In New Zealand; of the young people who completed the 2012 survey “Young People Attracted to the Same Sex or Both Sexes Report”, 59.4% had said they have deliberately self-harmed in the previous twelve months and 47.7% have reported suicidal ideation (Ministry of Youth Development, 2015). The data gathered is enough to prove that LGBT youth suicide is a social issue of international significance.
In America suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds, the age group of most high school and college students (“11 facts about suicide”). The novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher has become one of the most controversial books this year due to the recent release of the netflix series based on the book. Two sides have formed saying that the novel is either glorifying suicide or that the novel is bringing awareness to the growing problem in america. While different facts can be put into argument for both sides, Thirteen Reasons Why has brought about many new opinions and perspectives that show the glorification of suicide to outway the support it was attempting to give.
Some people go through their lives acting happy when in reality they have been considering suicide. If they end their life, it shocks the people around them, and often leaves them with a changed outlook. In Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, an average girl named Hannah Baker commits suicide
Due to young people’s inability to find support in their own communities, many attempt suicide. In a Vocativ article written in March 2015, the staff looked at the attempted suicide statistics of the United States, including sections broken down into throughout the United States, gay and lesbian people, and transgender and gender non-conforming people. Those sections, respectively, are 4.6%, 20%, and 41%. 41% of transgender people report attempting suicide at some point in their lifetimes; furthermore, that number may be even higher; either of those facts - transgender or have attempted suicide - can be difficult to admit, even in an anonymous survey. In addition, 45% of transgender people ages 18-24 reported that they had attempted suicide,
To this day, the case of Amanda Todd has been known by many people as one of the worst acts of cyberbullying. At this point, many people know about the Amanda Todd catastrophe. The 15-year old from English Columbia, Canada posted a help video on YouTube utilizing note cards to detail the torment she persisted from cohorts and outsiders in the wake of a noteworthy video visit photograph being discharged to her Facebook companions and others by a blackmailing stranger. She got discouraged and restless and explored different avenues regarding medications and liquor. She cut herself and had no less than two past endeavors at suicide. Individuals remarked on her Facebook page that she ought to invest more energy to kill herself Numerous understudies have worked out note cards and taken to YouTube to recount their story. The dread that she could show was to help other people who are battling with the normal trials that go with the high school years and can feel that suicide is the best way to convey complete consideration to their
When Religious Therapy Meets the Queer Community On December 29th, 2014, seventeen year old Leelah Alcorn stepped out into traffic and was hit by a truck. Her suicide caused an uproar on social media platforms like Tumblr, where her suicide note was originally published. This is because Leelah Alcorn was a transgender girl – meaning that the gender she identifies with does not match the sex she was assigned with at birth. After she came out as transgender to her parents, they isolated her from her friends, school and social media. During that time, she developed depression. Her parents sent her to therapy, but the therapists, who were religious and biased, attempted to change her gender back to male. This deepened her depression, subsequently
In this article, the "It Gets Better" program is discussed along with the importance of childhood among LGBT youth. The "It Gets Better" program is a collection of videos made and uploaded by people who lend their stories and support to young suicidal LGBT youth. These people include those who have made it through their own difficult struggles because of their sexual and/or gender identity. The article makes it a point that all of these people are older and have "gotten better", but these youth are still facing the brunt of the stigma against them. It is also said that mental illness begins when one is young, and that it starts with the family; the need to have a healthy support and engagement system is vital. When lacking, it can lead to trauma and in a society were LGBT people are largely considered deviant, there
Instead References Freeman, D. (2010). Asher Brown Suicide: Was Anti-Gay Bullying to Blame? Retrieved 5 October 2010 from www.cbsnews.com
There are known positive influences against LGBT+ suicide, however. Family support is one; other positive factors include: Family connectedness. Reduced stress. Caring adults. Supportive workplaces and neighbourhoods. School safety and positivity. Equal rights under the law.