Preventing Teenage Suicide In The United States

Suicide affects and destroys many families and takes too many lives each year. Despite it being somewhat of a taboo topic, it is important to be aware of the consequences of suicide and what is being done to prevent it. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and took nearly 45,000 deaths last year. For every suicide death, there are roughly 25 suicide attempts. (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2017). In the past few years, there has been a rise in suicide prevention programs. Programs are being implemented into schools and universities and offered at community centers as well. Suicide prevention is a major public health priority, as recognized by the Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention,

Suicide is a prevalent cause of death among America's youth today. Every day more than 1000 teenagers will think about suicide and eighteen will be successful in committing it. It is an ever-growing problem that can be described as unnecessary and uncalled for. Knowledge and understanding are key factors to preventing teenage suicide. The problem will usually originate from a period of depression, either as a medical concern, or simply because of a saddened

The rate of suicide, the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally, increases each year. “More adolescents die each year from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined” (Preventing Teen Suicide, 2016, p.2). These facts show suicide is a serious problem among teens. Last year, teen suicide became the second leading cause of death in the United States confirming the significant increase in teen suicides.

Every suicide effects more than the individual’s life, in truth it impacts families, communities and economic well-being of our nation. According, Piscopo, Lipari, Cooney, and Glasheen, (2016) “Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States and a tragedy for all involved—families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities. In 2014, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States overall.1 Among people aged 10 to 34, suicide was the second highest cause of death, and for those aged 35 to 54, it was the fourth highest cause of death” (p. 2).

Suicide. The word catches everyone’s attention; it is the actions leading up to the suicide that goes unnoticed. Unfortunately, the suicide rates continue to increase, and the why remains unknown. In the United States, 44,193 American's died by suicide in 2015 with the state of Kentucky ranking 19th for the highest suicide rates (American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, 2015). In the state of Kentucky, there is a suicide every 12 hours (American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, 2015). Additionally, suicide is the second leading cause of death among the youth population in the state of Kentucky (Kentucky Center for School Safety, 2016). Suicide has the potential to impact everyone without discrimination. Therefore,

Teen suicide is increasing in America in teens age’s 14-17,young males,minorities;through the availability of guns,alcohol,drugs,and lack of support.

Teen suicide is one of the largest problems facing America at the moment, and it will only become worse if the country does not come up with a solution. “According to the American Psychiatric Association, suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people between eleven and eighteen years of age (Teen Suicide).” American families can not keep losing sons and daughters to this entirely preventable epidemic. The largest issue with teen suicide is that Americans are using largely outdated and/or ineffective strategies in dealing with teen suicide, and Americans need to realize that this problem will not just go away. Using the old methods, such as telling teens to toughen up, are clearly not working and in some cases are contributing to the problem. Teen suicide is alarmingly on the rise and “According to the CDC, 5,504 people ages 10 to 24 died by suicide in 2014, the most recent year in which statistics are available. The figure was up from the grim 2013 tally of 5,264, and the number has risen every year and up 13 percent from 2010 (Corbin).” There are several causes for teen suicide that range from depression to concussions, and for each cause there are several proposed solutions to suicide or its causes, but many of the solutions will cause more problems instead of solving current ones, Americans need to utilize effective suicide prevention strategies and ignore the useless and outdated ones.

5000 people under the age of 25 with 2000of those teenagers are dying each year, but not from cancer or car accidents, but by their own hands. These children have made the choice to take their lives by committing suicide. Andrea Young Ward explains how and why teens make the decision of taking their lives in her story “Many Factors Contribute to Teen Suicide”. Teen suicide is the third leading killer of teenagers and has increased 200% since 1960 and will probably continue to increase in the years to come.

Suicide is always a complicated tragedy that leaves people with many questions and few answers. When a teen commits suicide, everyone is affected, family members, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors, and even outsiders. Teen suicide rates have had a major increase over the years. It has been proven to be the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds (APA “Teen Suicide is Preventable”). Society must provide reliable resources to help ensure that American society is not only aware of teen suicide but also the ways to prevent and treat it.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents aged 15-24 years old. This calculates to 33,000 adolescents killing themselves each year (CDC, 2010). The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), reported that suicide amongst all individuals nation wide has declined over all, but despite the decline, adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 have shown suicide rates that has increased by 6 percent (NCSL, 2005). The most staggering number, however, comes from the population of children between the ages of 10 and 14. For these individuals, suicide rates have increased by more than 100 percent (NCSL, 2005). In this paper, I seek to address the

The Youth suicide prevention program put out statistics saying, 2001 in the US, 4,250 young people between the ages of ten and twenty four died by suicide, which is an average of one suicide roughly every two hours. They go on to say that one out of ten students indicated that they had made a suicide attempt in the past twelve months. One out of five indicated that they had seriously thought about it. Teen suicide is a bigger problem than people realize with rates of suicide tripling since 1970. It is an ongoing problem that seems to keep growing. Young people all across America choose to end their own lives, but could it be preventable? Brian Ahmedani studied suicide attempts across the United States stated that, sixty four percent of people

Each year in the United States, thousands of adolescents contemplate suicide or perform non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Research has shown that adolescents who either attempted suicide or inflicted self-injury showed warning signs. These adolescents experience extreme feelings of stress, self-doubt, confusion, peer pressure, and other fears while growing up. Suicidal feelings and depression are treatable mental disorders, however, often times, warning signs are ignored. According to Margaret Andover and Blair W. Morris et al, in the United States, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults, and the 7th leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 9 years. Suicide with or without the intent to die is the behavior of an individual seeking to calm or end their pain and suffering.

Suicide is one of the top five causes of death for people under the age of 45 in the United States, and exceeds the rate of death caused my motor vehicle accidents. (HHS, 2012) The largest number of suicides occur among those in middle age. For every American that completes suicide, more than 30 more attempt suicide, and still more live in pain that causes them to consider suicide. More than 8 million people reported to have seriously considered suicide in 2012, with 2.5 million making a plan to do so. Still more family members, coworkers, classmates, and community members are affected by those considering or completing suicide (HHS, 2012).

Suicide is one of the largest social problems today affecting many lives in one way or another. It is a serious issue with multiple contributors that have been elusive in many cases as we try to understand why many younger people are choosing to end their lives instead of receive the help they need. Suicide is a serious issue that can have lasting results on individuals, families and communities. Although suicide rates decreased from 1990-2000, suicide is on the rise again and now the “10th leading cause of death in the US for all ages” (SAVE | Suicide Facts. n.d.). The causes of suicide are complex and unique to each, therefore, with effective prevention approaches, patient rights, and options as well as resources available to those experiencing suicidal ideations, we can promote awareness of suicide and encourage social change.

Suicide refers to the death that is caused by personal-directed injurious conduct with the intention of taking someone’s life. At any age, suicide is a tragedy to a person, families, friends, and societies which they live in. Indeed, suicides are a health problem when it comes to accounting for more than 34,000 deaths every year in the US and about one million or more worldwide (Feldman, 2016). Large numbers of suicide occur among the youth and elderly in the society. However, suicide cases among the children attract media attention compared to older adults. This paper discusses suicide as a social problem in the United States.