Teen Suicide
Why is murder nationally broadcasted around the world, but when someone takes their own life, the topic is not discussed. A tragic fact is that suicide is one of the top leading causes of death. While researching this topic, I found myself at a loss for words regarding the facts about suicide that go unspoken and pushed to the side. The goal of this paper is to help those who struggle with suicide understand they are not alone, address the alarming suicide statistics, and provide resources for those in need of help.
To achieve the goal previously mentioned, I will organize my paper into three main sections. In the first section, I provide two sources of information: a short history of suicide and some root causes for suicide. The second section, I discuss the suicide rate according to the most present information found while researching, and the future concerns. Lastly, I address different forms of prevention to help those who are contemplating suicide.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
It is unclear when the first documented suicide occurred, many believe in the 1700s. According to Professor David Oppenheim, “suicide, especially youth suicide, was a social phenomenon occurring cyclically throughout history, for example during the Renaissance and Goethe’s time (probably triggered by his widely popular novel The Sorrows of Young Werther), and that the problem could be traced back even to classical Greek and Roman societies” (Freud 10). During this difficult time, many blamed the schoolteachers. “Secondary schools should do more than not drive their students to suicide. It ought to give them a desire to live at a time when the conditions of their development cause them to loosen their ties with home and family” (Freud 11).
Different Root Causes. It was discovered that the presence of a psychiatric disorder is the most common element to suicide risk.
Having a history of psychiatric symptoms and/or disorders (e.g., substance use disorder, conduct disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders (Bridge et al., 2006, Lewinsohn [sic], Rohde, & Seeley, 1996) predicts suicide behavior in adolescents, and one study found that approximately 90% of adolescents who died by suicide had a diagnosed psychiatric disorder at the time of death (Bridge et al., 2006) (O’Brien 270).
During the investigation of what role anxiety disorders affects suicide, Boden, Fergusson, and Horwood (2007) “found that those diagnosed with anxiety disorder/s were more than 6 times more likely to attempt suicide than those who did not have anxiety disorder” (O’Brien 270). “Depressive disorders are the most common diagnoses and are present in 49% to 64% of adolescents suicides (Gould, Greenberg, Velting, & Shaffer, 2003)” (O’Brien 270). “Arguably the most predictive risk factor for a suicide attempt is a previous suicide attempt; adolescents who have had a previous attempt are 60 times more likely to die by suicide than those who have never attempted (Pisani et al., 2013)” (O’Brien 270).
CURRENT SUICIDE STATISTICS
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP); in the state of West Virginia alone, suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-34 years old. Suicide is also the fourth leading cause of death for ages 35-44 years old. “Over five times as many people died by suicide in 2019 than in alcohol related motor vehicle accidents” (AFSP). The number of deaths by suicide is continuously climbing. The national number of deaths by suicide in 2020 was 47,511. “The total deaths to suicide reflected a total of 6,808 years of potential life lost (YPLL) before the age of 65” (AFSP).
According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry suicide in younger children are impulsive. “They may be associated with feelings of sadness, confusion, anger, or problems with attention and hyperactivity” (AACAP). These feelings could be brought up in various aspects in their day-to-day lives. When it comes to teenagers, suicide could appear to be a solution to their problems. “Suicides among young people continue to be a serious problem. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and young adults age 15-to-24-years-olds” (AACAP).
FUTURE CONCERNS
To try and predict the future is a somewhat impossible task, but a sample study was performed on twenty adolescent participants. In this study, the adolescents were interviewed specifically about suicide and their previous suicide attempts. After the interviews, the participants were monitored to see the time frame of when and if they started contemplating suicide and what the transition time was between ideation to action.
Of the 20 participants, 17 reported that the amount of time it [sic] that elapsed between thinking about suicide to actually attempting [sic] suicide was less than three hours, and one participant reported not thinking about attempting suicide at all before acting. For participants with a particularly short window of time between thinking about killing themselves and actually acting [sic] on it (13 of 20 made this transition in 10 minutes or less), there frequently appeared to be a strong and quick confluence of thoughts and emotions that propelled the suicidal act. (O’Brien 275)
Suicide can be managed and preventable if the signs are noticeable. Without the resources available to those who are considering suicide, the number of suicides will incline at a rapid speed. Even with all the resources that are in place to help prevent suicide now people still struggle, and the number continues to rise. “Last year, suicide rates in the U.S. were the highest they had been since 1941, according to the date from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the last two decades, youth suicide has increased significantly. From 2007 through 2021, suicide rates for American ages 10 to 24 rose 62%, according to the CDC” (Shrikant 2023). If these resources were to stop, the rate of suicide would be a number that cannot be estimated.
Rebecca Ruiz, a Senior Reporter, frequently covers mental health and one of her areas of expertise includes suicide prevention. She addresses three ways to help prevent suicide in a paper she wrote for Mashable. The first solution to prevent suicide and in some ways, the hardest; is to just talk about suicide and mental health. “More than two-thirds of suicidal adolescents don’t see a mental health provider either, likely because their caregivers don’t realize they’re struggling according to a survey of more than 10,000 adolescents” (Ruiz). Ruiz acknowledges Lisa Horowitz, a staff scientist and pediatric psychologist at the National Institutes of Health.
Teens benefit from knowing that cognitive distortions are a common phenomenon anyone can experience, and that they can make someone feel helpless — a warning sign that they need help. Horowitz says coping skills like talking to a trusted adult, calling a crisis or suicide hotline, connecting with a good friend or taking a walk can help quiet or reduce intrusive thoughts. (Ruiz)
The second solution is to make a safety plan. “A safety plan is a prioritized list of coping strategies and sources of support. It can help you identify what leads to your thoughts of suicide and how to feel better when you are having these thoughts. As a result, you can help yourself stay safe” (Vibrant). This uses documentation of what warning signs to look for that could develop suicidal thoughts and what to do once you recognize those thoughts.
The third and final solution to prevent suicide is to restrict access to means of suicide. This would be removing prescription drugs that someone could use to overdose. Putting the weapons in your house in a gun safe that only you know the combination. “65.33% of firearm deaths were suicides, 59.39% of all suicides were by firearms” (AFSP data). This doesn’t mean removing all guns, just preventing the access of firearms. “Research, however, has shown that reducing lethal means is associated with decreases in the suicide rate. One small study published in 2016 found that when parents of suicidal children received counseling on restricting lethal means, they were later more likely to have locked away medicine and firearms” (Ruiz).
The best solution is talking about suicidal thoughts and addressing warning signs. The adolescents need to know they can be heard and understood, that speaking to an adult, friend, or parent is okay and that they aren’t alone. “Early identification and intervention hinge on reliable and valid assessment of suicide risk” (Ruiz). The issues with not addressing feelings or not talking are astronomical because the parents are unaware of adolescents' thoughts. If the
A concern that some may have with the solution of talking, they could argue that talking about suicide will make the adolescent then think about suicide or put the idea in their head. Research suggests that is not true, that acknowledging and talking about suicide could reduce those feelings. “Horowitz recommends talking about how the brain can create cognitive distortions, or “faulty” thinking patterns, that can disproportionately focus our attention on negative emotions or beliefs, including suicidal thoughts” (Ruiz). “The trick for any caring adult having this conversation with a teen is to model the behavior themselves, says [sic] Horowitz. That means not only being emotionally honest with a child but also consistently demonstrating what it looks like to use different coping skills in response to stress, anxiety, disappointment, and other difficult experiences” (Ruiz).
Work Cited
White, Harvey. “Freud and His Group On Teen Suicide: A 21st Century Update.” Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychology, vol. 39, Jan. 2017, pp. 7–21. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=131081174&site=ehost-live. Accessed 23, Nov. 2023.
Kline, Emily A., et al. “Association Between Exposure to Suicidal Behaviors and Suicide Attempts Among Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Prior Psychiatric Disorders.” Child Psychiatry & Human Development, vol. 53, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 365–74. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01129-2. Accessed 23, Nov. 2023.
Vaughn, Lisa M., et al. “Successful Suicide Screening in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Youth, Parent, Researcher, and Clinician Perspectives.” Archives of Suicide Research, vol. 24, Jan. 2020, pp. 124–41. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2018.1541034. Accessed 23, Nov. 2023.
O’Brien, Kimberly H.McManama, et al. “Why Adolescents Attempt Suicide: A Qualitative Study of the Transition from Ideation to Action.” Archives of Suicide Research, vol. 25, no. 2, Apr. 2021, pp. 269–86. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2019.1675561. Accessed 23, Nov. 2023.
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Cohen, Sandy. “Suicide rates among young people continue to rise, but there are ways to help.” UCLA Health. vol. 2, Feb. 2023. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/as-suicide-rates-among-young-people-rise-there-are-ways-to-help. Accessed 23, Nov. 2023.
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Shrikant, Aditi. “Youth Suicide Rates.” Msn News. Dec. 2023. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/youth-suicide-rates-rose-62-from-2007-to-2021-people-feel-hopeless-one-recent-grad-says/ar-AA1l2GBl. Accessed 5, Dec. 2023
Ruiz, Rebecca. “Teen Suicide Prevention.” Mashable. Sept. 2019. https://mashable.com/article/teen-suicide-prevention. Accessed 5, Dec. 2023
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