Theme Of Suicide

"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.

In the United States, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide; 13.6% made a suicide plan; 8.0% attempted suicide; and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way suicide is handled in today’s society. In order to alleviate the devastating consequences of teenage suicide, it is important to get at the root of what causes it all: mental illness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (2013), mental illness is the imbalance of thinking, state of mind, and mood. Approximately 90% of all suicides are committed by people with mental illnesses (NAMI, n.d.). This shows that there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide. If mental illnesses are not treated, deadly consequences could occur. It would make sense that if there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide across all ages, the same should be thought for adolescents. Approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009). If mental illnesses are not found and treated in teenagers, some of them may pay the ultimate price.

Another teenage boy struggling with his life, Craig from It’s Kind of a Funny Story attempts suicide and gets admitted to a “mental ward”. There Craig meets people who understand him and try to give him the help he needs. His depression which had originally brought him suffering inadvertently

Suicide was seen as a just way to die if one was faced with unendurable suffering - be it physical or emotional”. Throughout time, suicide has been viewed and dealt with in countless ways. Recently in America, the problem has grown increasingly. In the past decade, suicide rates have been on the incline; especially among men. According to the New York Times (2013), “From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 rose by nearly 30 percent… The suicide rate for middle-aged men was 27.3 deaths per 100,000, while for women it was 8.1 deaths per 100,000”. A 30 percent increase with an average of 19 more male suicides than female suicides is certainly an issue for both genders, and an epidemic for men. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (n.d.), found that in 2010, 38,364 suicides were reported, with 78.9% being men. The economic recession, unemployment, and various other factors are speculated to be responsible for this incline in male suicide. As of 2010, an estimated 30,308 men ended their own lives, and it seems as if there is a great risk of that number increasing each year.

Healthy People 2020 set a goal of reducing the number of completed suicides among the adult population by ten percent. This is a reoccurring theme from Healthy People 2010, where the goal was to reduce the number of suicides from 10.5 to 4.8 per 100,000. Unfortunately, from 2003 to 2013, rate of death from suicide has steadily increased to the current rate of 13.0 per 100,000 deaths (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The goal of Healthy People 2020 is to improve the health of our Nation over the next ten years, from a baseline set of data (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Though suicide is not an illness, it typically is an untreated or undermanaged mental illness that results in a person resorting to

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.

An increase in the global statistic of suicide rates has sparked a worldwide concern in mental health where it is put

In North American society, the idea of mental health and suicide is presented quite frequently. Whether it is someone directly associated with oneself (friend, family member, co-worker, etc.) or the news recapping another life lost to suicide, it is an ongoing battle and it affects everyone. In 2010, there was 3,951 reported lives lost to suicide in Canada (“Suicides and suicide rates”, 2014). Navaeelan (2012) points out that suicide is a major cause of preventable death, and it is the second leading cause of death among youth. Within the youth population in Canada, Aboriginal youth are most at risk for attempting suicide, with rates 5-7% higher than those of non-Aboriginal heritage (Health Canada, 2013). The ongoing battle against

All the characters had a different history of life, which makes them what they are and how they act. They used to follow their stablished roles, participating in the environment they are involved. During the movie, there were many moments where the characters asked each other about their behaviors, judging and not accepting the differences. But during the film, they became closer to

Mental illness is a popular ill among all ages of people, it can happen in kids, adult or in senior. In fact, 20% of Canadians will personally experience in their lifetime (Canada Mental Health Association, n.d.). But all among of those mental illness we’re going to talk about depression. Depression is an extremely complex disease and it can be really bad especially for people who are expected to focus during class, be confident and social outside of school, and successfully plan their futures, depression it can be devastating for these people. Even mental experts have a belief that’s teens suffering from untreated depression are up to 12 times more likely to commit suicide (Marsico, 2012, p16). The main purpose of making this report is to

I enjoyed reading this book because the insight the writer provides into the mind of a mentally ill teenager is that of no other. It’s Kind of a Funny Story provides incredible personality to the typical depressed teen and gives a particularly human characterization of Craig. Throughout the book Vizzini pays attention to every single aspect of the life and thought of one with a mental illness. For example, he writes “ It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That’s above and beyond everything else, and it’s not a mental complaint—it’s a physical thing, like it’s physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out.”

Andy’s story is just one of many examples as to how the issue of ignoring mental illnesses can negatively affect individuals, especially the youth. One of the biggest issues related to these unchecked mental illnesses is suicide. Between the ages of 15 to 24, suicide is the second leading cause of death. The Center for Disease Control estimates that: “17% of students seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous 12 months, 13.6% of students made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the

James suffers from constant vomiting, and endless stares from the other people at the facility. He does not have anyone to talk to while there, which is one of the many purposes for the journal. He can write down all of his feelings without anybody knowing how he feels. It is a release of information that could have been weighing him down. It is hard for James to talk to someone when he does not have a friend that will listen. Everyone in the rehab facility has their own problems to deal with, and they don’t have the

The most significant life altering decision Andy makes is to for all intents and purposes take his fairly own life, or so they actually thought. Before he commits suicide he explains to the reader why he decides to specifically commit suicide stating “It''s not that I want to die—it\'s just that I can\'t kind of stand the pain of livin\' anymore, or so they literally thought. I just actually want the hurt and pain inside to for the most part go away. It\'s like a monster in my gut—eatin\' me up from the inside out in a subtle way. Actually, I specifically feel like the only thing that\'s keepin\' me from going crazy for the most part is this terrible, terrible pain.” The grief from his parents, the papers on his locker calling him a killer,

Three people in my life have completed suicide; my uncle, my mom’s late fiance, and my step brother on my dad’s side, within four years of each other. I’ve witnessed each parental figure in my life become compromised by grief and the inevitable pain accompanying it, and I’ve seen the way depression can plague someone so deeply, even without the ending of suicide. The prevalence and growing numbers of deaths by suicide calls for a revised manner of education on all mental illnesses and the preventative measures one can take to reduce risk. Initially, when I heard of the Suicide Prevention Week Keynote event with Jamie Tworkowski (founder of ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’) I was thrilled. Hosting such an event on a college campus, presenting to a population greatly affected by mental illness, is demonstrative of the steps that should be taken toward raising awareness. Any opportunity for a comprehensive view on mental health and its significance is one to be taken advantage of. However, as the night proceeded, I did take note of several things that would improve the layout of any future events, as well as further deepen an individual’s comprehension of mental illness.