Youth Suicide in Australia: A Report Essay

The usual causes, triggers as well as risk factors that are associated with suicide are poverty, trauma, substance abuse and relationship problems (Ridani et al., 2015). From 2001 to 2010, 4.2% of Aboriginal deaths was due to suicide while for all other Australians it only accounted for 1.6% of deaths (ABS, 2012). Furthermore, females of Indigenous Australian origin aged 15 to 19 years, committed suicide 5.9 times more than other female Australians while the ratio for male Indigenous people was 5.5 more than other male Australians and the suicide overall ratio for Indigenous people is twice more than that of non-Indigenous Australians. (ABS, 2012) A person is at an increased risk for suicide if they have mental health disorders and chronic diseases, are unemployed, isolation, social support is non-existent, history of depression and other behavioural factors as well (Evans & Brown,

Suicide has been rising at alarming rates; the overall suicide rate for children and adolescents has increased over 300% since the 1950s. (Miller, 2009) Adolescent children are screaming out for our help, are we just ignoring the signs or do we not care? For young people, an average 1,800 take their own lives and 85,000 are hospitalized for attempts nationally (CDC, 2008). With this kind of statistics we need to step in and take some action.

In Australia suicide is the leading cause of death among young people (Khan & Francis, 2015). According to an Australian national survey conducted, 7.3 million or 43% of Australians between the ages of 16 & 85 will experience some form of mental health related condition during their lifetime. This may include anxiety, depression and drug misuse. Mental health issues are also very costly for the healthcare system. These issues are costing the Australian government alone, more than 6 billion dollars per year (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2013). To help reduce these costs, more education and promotion needs to be provided when caring for an adolescent with mental health issues, and strength-based models of care need

In addition, the program offered healing to the community still healing from the legacy of colonialism. If the federal government kept funding the suicide prevention program there would not have been a spike in suicide rates in the community. Furthermore, a psychologist at the University of Victoria, Christopher Lalonde, believes the key to stopping suicides is rooted in the communities (McCue, 2016). From two decades of researching, he found that the communities that are the least “culturally healthy” have a higher rate of youth suicide (McCue, 2016). Also, the mental wellness of aboriginal youths is not only about being mentally healthy but also having a balance between Aboriginal youths’ families, communities, and the environment (Khan, 2008). Therefore, it will be better that Aboriginal suicide prevention programs are created by Aboriginal communities to target the prevalence issues in their communities with some assistance from the government to set it up and fund

The inability to make and prolong relationships leads to a sense of isolation, and contributes to poor mental health and depression. Hospitalisation rates for self-harm are representative of mental illness, depression and stress – and in 2006, Indigenous Australians were 3 times more likely to be hospitalized for severe self-harm than other Australians. In 2011, 80% of suicides of the ages 19 to 24 were

According to STATS Canada, suicide is the leading cause of death among Canadian aboriginals between youth and adults under 44 years old. (Kirmayer et al., 2007, p. xv)

The role of preventing mental health from a younger age is important because according to Beyond Blue Youth, “Evidence suggests three in four adult mental health conditions emerge by age 24 and half by age 14.” This is terrible, we should focus on decreasing this so it doesn’t lead to a bigger suicide rate. In 2012 Beyond Blue Youth states, “Suicide is the biggest killer of young Australians and accounts for the deaths of more young people than car accidents.” Preventing mental health from a younger age will not only decrease the suicide rate but how many adults have a mental health issues will decrease. As the conditions won’t emerge before the age of 24, giving the younger generations more chance to not have a mental issue in their adult lives.

The idea of youth committing suicide mystifies our societal logic. We do not understand the reasons why youth -normally associated with energy, determination and possibilities- turn to such a final act as a solution. Suicide eventually enters all of our lives, either directly or indirectly. However, the situation becomes more cruel and unfair when a youth commits suicide. We can not help but think of the opportunities and potential lost so swiftly for one so young. Although adolescent suicide is a current crisis in today’s Canadian society, youth for all of history and in all cultures have resorted to this ultimate form of self-destruction. Clearly we have and always have had, a teenage

The Centre for Suicide Prevention, also known as the CSP is an education centre with the largest known English language library devoted to the collection and publication of suicide prevention and intervention resources. They provide many different resources on the topic of suicide with information in risk factors, stats, programs and more. This source perfectly fits my chosen topic. This article was published in June 2013, which was fairly recent, therefore it being relevant to my research. I decided to select this source because it gave me exactly what I was looking for in order to have a successful research paper. It will be most helpful to the concrete data of my essay. This article gives an anthropological view on suicide within the Aboriginal community. This article was able to give an insight on how Aboriginals were alienated and taken away from their culture, therefore causing

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

The difference in suicide rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians exists because of the stereotypical treatment towards aboriginals. Since the early ages of the British settlements Aboriginals have been enslaved and treated as the lower class. This has changed as there is no more slavery however the non-indigenous attitudes towards the indigenous is still bad and this can lead to depression and then suicide

The Howard government introduced a Criminal Code Amendment bill in 2005. This bill stated that it would be an offence to use suicide aids to promote or provide instruction on how to commit or to assist an individual into suicide. The use of the internet, exchanging of emails and telephones etc. for the purpose of a suicide plan and/or insight would be prohibited. It would also be considered an offence to possess or supply any such material.

Mental health has always been identified as one of the main areas for action in the National Health Priority Areas (National Health and Medical Research Council 2016), and depression is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions amongst the young Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017). Depression is a debilitating condition that substantially impairs individuals’ ability to function and cope with their daily life due to the experience of negative feelings (NHMRC 2016). Also, depression and suicidality have a close correlation as eighty percent of reported suicide incident was due to the burden of depression (World Health Organization 2017), and suicide is the second leading cause of death in youths in Australia (Reddy 2010). Moreover, depression can be inherited in a family through either biological or psychological way (Rahman et al. 2008); hence, youths who have the family with depression history tend to be more vulnerable and have a higher chance to get depression comparing with children from healthy family (Rice 2010). Therefore, this expo is set up for raising community awareness in the burden of depression and reducing the growth of emotional and developmental dysfunction in youths and their families through providing a comprehensive research study in related the health problem and proven intervention strategies.

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.

Youth Suicide Introduction Suicide is a tragic event. It has a profound personal effect on all associated with the person who died. Families, friends and society as a whole are affected. There is a particular poignancy when the suicide is that of a young person at the threshold of life. Australia has the fifth highest suicide rate per 100 000 persons in the world.