Picture this: You’re sitting in your room, the doors locked and your thinking of a way to start your letter, your suicide letter. Your hands are trembling, your heads spinning, your hearts pounding. You have hot tears rolling down your face, and you finally give up. Its 10:00 at night, and you stand up to shut your lights, and hop into your bed. You look around your room, then shut your eyes and whisper “goodbye”, and take your last breath, and end it all. –Diego Sanchez Basurto (arojasr-inspirational-blog.tumblr.com/post/.../teen-suicide-)
Teen suicide is the third most common cause of death between the ages of 15-24. This is also the sixth most common cause of death amongst 5-14 year olds. According to our research teens often commit suicide because of their sexual orientation and are bullied from it or have serious depression and are upset. There is one suicide for every 25 attempted suicides. Did you know that on average, one person commits suicide every 16.2 minutes? That sounds really depressing. (dosomething.org)
Warning signs
• Loss of interest in schoolwork
• Sleep changes
• Changing eating habits
• Low Grades
• Isolates a lot of time from family
• Talks about boredom a lot
• Changes in behaviour/ feelings
• Talking about suicide in general
• Has no desire to take part in favorite activities or events.
• Acting strangely
• Talks about suicide or death in general
What to do?
What to Do
Youth who feel suicidal are not likely to seek help directly; however, parents, school personnel, and peers can recognize the warning signs and take immediate action to keep the youth safe. When a youth gives signs that they may be considering suicide, the following actions should be taken:
•Remain calm.
•Ask the youth directly if he or she is thinking about suicide.
•Focus on your concern for their wellbeing and avoid being accusatory.
•Listen.
•Reassure them that there is help and they will not feel like this forever.
•Do not judge.
•Provide constant supervision. Do not leave the youth alone.
•Remove means for self-harm.
•Get help: Peers should not agree to keep the suicidal thoughts a secret and instead should tell an adult, such as a parent, teacher, or school psychologist. Parents should seek help from school or community mental health resources as soon as possible. School staff should take the student to the designated school mental health professional or administrator. –NASP resources
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
What some people don’t know about suicide was that this is not a new thing with the ages of fifteen to twenty-four the rate was 49,496 in 1970. With today’s society the teen’s suicide rate has gone from 8.8 deaths per every hundred thousand people to twelve point three per every hundred thousand teens. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages fifteen to twenty-four and the sixth leading cause for ages five to fourteen.…
- 262 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
There are 3 types of maltreatment: abuse, neglect, bullying and harassment. Abuse can be physical, emotional (intellectual) and sexual.…
- 1278 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
A.The pressure is mounting, the pain is unbearable, thoughts are racing through your head, you just can’t go on any longer and then the erry sound of silence. B.Suicide has been defined as "any death that is the direct or indirect result of a positive or negative act accomplished by the victim, knowing or believing the act will produce this result" [Maris 1991]. Teen suicide is a growing health concern in the US as it is the third leading cause of death among young people. C.Teenagers die every day in the United States, not just from illnesses or accidents, but by their own hands. Here in Alexandria, Louisiana, my daughter’s classmate just committed suicide a few days ago. D.In order to better understand teen suicide, it is important to explore the causes of teen suicide, what are the symptoms and/or signs, and what can be done to prevent teen suicide. E.To start with examining some of the causes, and the signs and/or symptoms and determine what can be done to prevent teen suicide.…
- 328 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Statistics show that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for adolescents between the ages ten and fourteen. Also, the Center for Disease Control reports that it is the third leading cause for death, behind accidents and homicides of people aged fifteen to twenty four (teensuicidestatistics). 14.5 percent of high school students have made actual plans for committing suicide. In the United States someone dies by suicide every sixteen minutes and someone attempts every one minute. Internationally about one million people die by suicide each year more than war and homicide combined. 2/3 of suicidal deaths occur on the first attempt. Girls think about attempting suicide about twice as much as boys do. Boys, however, are actually four times more likely, than girls, to actually die by killing themselves. Each suicide death, intimately and profoundly affects at least six people (peoplepreventsuicide). In 1997, more adolescents died from suicide than AIDS, cancer, heart disease, birth defects and lung disease (ncpamd). Suicidal people think that there is no one out there to care for them. Therefore…
- 1992 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Each year, thousands of teenagers die, not from accidents, cancer, illness, or diseases but by their own hands. Children have begun turning to suicide for a way out. Teenager is becoming a larger problem in today's society. There are certain groups of people are higher risk than others, there are many different reasons people turn to suicide, and many warning signs that are easy to pick up on to help someone in need.…
- 721 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Determining why children and adolescents commit suicide is a concern that many individuals in the helping professions face. Obviously, they commit suicide because they are depressed in many instances, but it is also accurate to say that there are other reasons why many of these adolescents choose to take their own lives. Some of them are involved in substance abuse and other issues that cause them to think suicide is the right idea. Others are involved with crowds of other adolescents that drag them down into painful issues and problems that they have trouble facing. When this happens, some of these individuals begin to feel that they are trapped in these problems, and the only way that some of them find to escape those problems is through…
- 4556 Words
- 19 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 13 to 24. In recent years, suicide has increased at an alarming rate in adolescents. One in five teenagers in the United States considers suicide, in 2003, 8 percent of adolescents attempted suicide. It can affect teens from all races, both genders, and socioeconomic groups. According to a 2004 report distributed by the National Institute of Mental Health identified that psychological, environmental, and biological are the possible causes for suicidal distress. The risk for suicide frequently occurs in combination with external circumstances, lack of coping skills, substance abuse, and depression the most common psychiatric disorder in people who die in suicide. Adolescent suicide can be prevented by recognizing the possible symptoms and warning signs. Suicide prevention programs, crisis center hotlines, screening programs, seek to identify at risk adolescents and provide them with the proper treatment and reduce suicidal ideation.…
- 1457 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Often times, teenagers become despondent because of the pressures of their academic lives, social lives, and family lives. Unfortunately, parents like Scott Fritz who lost his 15-year-old daughter to suicide, had no idea teen suicide was even a…
- 1514 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
Another huge cause of teen suicide is bullying and low self-esteem. In which ever order they come this is one of the largest causes of suicide among teenagers. With the pressure created by the media and society to meet the standards that they consider acceptable, plus the recent boom in social media over the past year has shined a spotlight on what is acceptable or cool and created a rise in cyber bullying over the past…
- 681 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Teen suicide has been a hot topic in America for several decades. Sadly, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in every eight teens have had thoughts about suicide and experts estimate for every teen suicide death there are ten attempts. There are many factors that increase the risk to take one’s life today in the United States. Depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, family history of abuse, stress over school are just a few. Many teenagers that commit suicide suffer from mental illness. Diagnosed as bipolar with severe depression and manic episodes or schizophrenia that is characterized with hallucinations make teens feel unable to cope.…
- 522 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Statistics have shown that “approximately 95% of people who die by suicide have a psychological disorder at the time of death” (Nock 1). Some of the most common disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, and alcohol or drug use. Depression can make some teens feel worthless and make them…
- 1700 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
In the past thirty years, suicide has been steadily increasing. Unfortunately, the larger portion of those numbers is teenage suicide. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), suicide is the third leading cause of death in people aged 15 to 24. Even more shocking, CDC states that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in people aged 10 to 14. This startling fact shows that teen suicide is becoming a major issue in the United States, and makes one wonder what is causing our teenagers to become suicidal. Many people fail to realize that bullying, depression, and parental divorce are some of the reasons why teenagers are committing suicide.…
- 400 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
These are a few signs that could indicate, “[p]otential signs of suicidal feelings and thoughts” (Boston 's Children Hospital, 2013, para. 18); however, these could also be signs of depression. Moreover, a teacher should see assistance if these signs appear in one of their…
- 611 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The article I read on teen suicide was fairly sad to me. What happened in the article really shined a light on the reality of bullying for me. This situation showed me that some people are bullied for no reason. In this essay, I will write about the aspects of bullying, cyberbullying, and I will write about Brandi Vela’s story.…
- 1040 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The thought of a young teen taking their life because they are depressed or overwhelmed with hopelessness is heartbreaking. Teen suicide takes the lives of over 38,000 Americans every year. The extent of the problem continues to increase every year, especially when teens from your home town are choosing to take their own life. Life can be an emotional rollercoaster but for some young teens the depression eats them alive. Many are fighting thoughts of suicide daily and need a helping hand. When an individual makes that decision to take their own life they are cutting all ties with their pain. When in reality they have so much to live for but they would rather end it all right in that moment. And in that moment there could have been a possibility to have done something that could have stopped them.…
- 1240 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays