Teen Suicides

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

We have all experienced this feeling at least once in our life; the feeling of not being good enough, the feeling of always getting the short end of the stick one would say. Some individuals have felt this for only a few days, some for a few weeks but for others this certain type of negative feeling never goes away until the person does something about it mentally or physically. That something can lead a person to the point they think the only way out is ending their own life. Suicide is a topic that cannot be overlooked. Teen suicide is the third leading cause of death in today’s youth. With these statistics, the question rises are teenagers asking adults for help or are adults ignoring the signs? Teen suicide can be preventable, and the way

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.

The United States takes the eleventh spot in the top fifteen causes of death because of suicide. For our youth suicide is the third leading cause of death. In today’s society suicide in our youth is becoming a huge issue. Recently, youth suicide in Delaware has been a concerning topic. With the many suicides that have been taking place; we ask ourselves why is this happening to Delaware’s youth? It’s quite sad reading of all the lives taken at such young ages. It’s still questionable on the real reasons why so much of our youth want to cut their life short. There are numbers of things on why possibly our youth would want to commit suicide. There is one reason that has been proven to be the head cause and that is mental illness. A mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions and disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness includes depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. (Staff, 2012) Some other causes may be bullying, drug and alcohol abuse and physical and sexual abuse. Youth that die by suicide believes that suicide is the only option at that moment; however Delaware has several resources available to prevent youth suicide.

From 2011 to 2015, teen suicide has transformed into a consequential issue within the United States of America. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among American teenagers between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and is the third leading cause of death for those aged ten to fourteen. Back in 2011, the suicide death rate for those teenagers aged thirteen to nineteen was 6.74 per 100,000, an aggregate of 2,014 teens. Suicide also accounted for 17 percent of U.S. teenage deaths in the year 2011, second only to unintentional injuries, accounting for 39 percent. In 2013, 8 percent of

Teen Lifeline was especially designed to help people in need in the Phoenix area, but has now expanded statewide. “In 1991, through a grant from the Marshall Fund of Arizona, Teen Lifeline began serving the entire State of Arizona through a toll free number” (Teenlifeline.org). Thanks to the Marshall Fund of Arizona, anyone in Arizona can contact someone for help at anytime and anyday. Subsequently, it made the audience aware of how serious suicide was because at that time “Arizona ranked second in the nation for the rate of teen suicide” (Teenlifeline.org). Suicide is still a serious issue and Teen lifeline is especially helpful because they are available 24 hours a day through calling and

This source focuses on the aspect of teen suicides and how they connect with each other along with suicide events that are considered copycat suicides. The sources main focus is suicides in a particular location, in this case it is in Colorado. Max Kutner is an author for Newsweek, he puts a great emphasis on a girl named Riley that committed suicide in Colorado. Kutner’s background on whether he is well versed in teen suicide is unknown, his research on the subject seems well thought out. The audience can be a group of which have seen an increase in suicide rates, one after the other and wants to see how another location is dealing with it. This source is supportive with other sources on the same topic by which copycat suicides is on the rise in teenagers. The Colorado suicide rate between 2015 and 2016 stands out as being 49 times the yearly national average for kids their age. Found this source by searching copycat suicides in Opposing Viewpoints database.

Lives are slowly being lost due to suicide and not only is it affecting themselves but also the people who are around them. Suicide is defined as taking of one’s own life and it is an issue that should be given all attention to. Teen suicide has been talked about in every source of media and it still continues to have a harmful effect in todays generation. In the United States the eighth leading cause of death is suicide, within developing teens, suicide is the third leading cause of their deaths (NAMI). There are many signs of someone who is contemplating suicide. And there are many reason for someone to be driven to the point of suicide. Those reasons being if the teenager is dealing with depression, bullying, sexual abuse and abuse

This issue is relevant to the world because so many teens struggle with depression, bullying, or abuse and kill themselves over it. The website American Foundation for Suicide Prevention states that “Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. Each year there are 44,965 Americans that die.”

In the 60s teen suicide was almost nonexistent, however it has been a growing problem ever since then. Donna Gaines explores this with her article Teenage Wasteland following the Bergenfield incident. Gaines conducted research to find out why these suicides were happening, and what led 4 teens to take their lives together. She found out that there is not just one sole reason to why they would take their lives; it was much more complicated then that. It can be based off of your social and personal life, economic standing, loneliness and many other factors.

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.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2015, suicide is the second leading cause of death in the adolescent population in this country and the number of occurrences continues to rise at a dramatic rate. For every teen that completes a suicide, 100 make an attempt, making suicide a paramount public health issue that needs to be addressed. Statistics show that since 2009, the rates of attempted and completed suicide, in this age group continue to steadily increase (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015; Taliaferro, Oberstar, & Wagman-Borowsky, 2012).

Over 1,000 people die from suicide each year in Illinois each year, and most of these people are teens, ranging from fifteen to nineteen years old. This sounds

Yet researchers and mental health professionals cannot pinpoint why the rate has climbed, and they know little about what causes someone thinking about suicide to attempt it. As a result, suicide-screening tools are not very effective, and most school-based suicide-prevention programs may not reduce teen suicides. But researchers are hopeful that new studies, including large trials of three kinds of psychotherapy in adolescents, will help in understanding teen suicide and lead to better identification and treatment of high-risk teens. Meanwhile, many states are requiring instructors to be trained to recognize and respond to potentially suicidal students. Also, researchers have begun studying into physical brain characteristics that could be connected to teen suicide. It’s difficult to pinpoint why exactly suicide death rates have risen among teenagers. But Kelly Posner, a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University, says possibilities include a growth in social media and cyber bullying; a drop in antidepressant use after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 required antidepressant labels to carry a warning of possible suicide risk for children and adolescents; and the weak economy. There have been many reports on young teens that post online their last message, and

Teen suicide is a major problem in our society today. The adolescent suicide rate has tripled since 1960, while being the largest cause of death between the ages of 15 and 24. This is the one single age group that has seen an increase in suicides over the past thirty years. There are about 10,000 reported suicides reported annually. It is estimated however, that the true number of teen suicides is actually three to four times that number when unreported deaths are factored in.