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Essay on Suicide Among Youth

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Suicide Among Youth

A suicide attempt is a non-fatal act in which an individual deliberately causes self- injury and should be recognized as a method of communication from a youth who may be experiencing severe problems. Canadian statistics from the Suicide Information and Education Center in 1996 recorded 25 000 attempted suicides and 250 successful suicides. 1 in every 100 people who try to commit suicide will die. Based on the 1996 statistics one can assume that these numbers have increased. It has been suggested that suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst the youth and is more common amongst females than males. Although more females attempt to commit suicide males are more successful in doing so. More often than …show more content…

Even if these are not the signs and one encounters a situation where a youth says “I can’t do anything right” one must take into account the negativity that the youth is expressing. Often after a person attempts suicide or is successful in the act those who are left behind have many feelings. A person may feel anger, shock, shame and more commonly they feel guilty. Often after an attempt parents try to punish the youth or blame them. However, this only creates more problems not only for the family but also for the child, pre-teen and teenager who already feels stressed out or disturbed. Persons who encounter a suicidal youth must not preach, joke around, criticize and must never ignore any suicidal sign. From the Suicide Information and Education Center information there are four steps that must be taken after an attempt. First seek medical attention immediately, second seek community resources, third open or keep lines of communication between yourself and the youth and lastly be available for that youth because they will need you. Going through this process of healing the youth may feel a sense of guilt, anger, anxiety and most likely the youth will feel depressed. If the youth still appears to be at risk one must “ASK, LISTEN and ACT”. One of the most important items outlined from the information in the Suicide Information and Education Center is that one must “involve others [and] don’t try to handle the crisis alone”. Writing

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