...Introduction No one wants to believe that suicide is one of the leading causes of death for adolescents. It is however just that, a leading cause of death. “Currently, suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death among youth aged 15-24 years. Since the 1950’s the suicide rate of young adults has more than tripled while the rate f the overall population has remained relatively stable” (King et at, 2011, pg.581). The causes of teen suicide are many but there are scenarios that increase a teen’s risk for choosing suicide. Socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, hostile social environment, lack of education choices can all play a negative role in adolescent development. Suicide Characteristics The McWhirter text gives 13 characteristics of teens that tend to be more at rick of suicide. It is important to remember that most times multiple characteristic are present and they contribute to each other in a circular pattern. Substance abuse, which includes both alcohol and drugs, can increase a teen’s rick for suicide. Another characteristic is under and or over achievement. Teens that have high academic expectation placed on them can also increase the risk of suicide. Other characteristics of at risk youth are sexual orientation, troubled family life, poor self-image as well. Depression is one of the big characteristics that are seen in youths that attempt suicide or complete a suicide attempt. “Unfortunately, youth depression often goes unrecognized by parents and professionals...
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...the shoulders of military forces. This heavy burden of “prosperity” and “preservation” could be proven to be responsible for the slow destruction of the vitality of the youth and soldiers in this country. Suicide, death caused by intentional self- directed injuries, has been reported by CDC as part of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States of America as of 2009. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth in the age range of 10 to 24 which results in the average of 4600 lives of youth lost yearly (CDC, 2014). This fatal behavior is also the third leading cause of death in the U.S. military forces. (Mitchell, 2012) The military suicide rates have surpassed the civilian suicide rates averaging 164 soldiers’ suicide related deaths reported by the Office of the Chief of Legislative Liaison in 2012. (Mitchell, 2012). What are the major causes or risk factors of suicide? Are there solutions to this major dilemma? This paper will attempt to highlight some causes as well as some possible solutions to slow down the constant rise of suicidal behavior of these two groups. There are quite a few risk factors for suicidal behavior among teens. One of the most popular is depression, a form of mental illness. (Cooper, 2011) Depression could be linked but not limited to...
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...Suicide: Teenagers Suicidal Behavior A Research Paper Presented to: Mrs. Maria Elena R. Maniego St. Joseph College- Olongapo, Inc. Olongapo City In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in English IV By: Ma. Theressa C. Guevarra IV- Hope March 4, 2013 Acknowledgement: She would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to the following persons who have made the completion of this Subject Matter: Our Principal Mrs. Imelda T. Lampazo, for her vital encouragement and support to her scholarship being a Student- Assistant. Our Assistant Principal Mr. Arsenio Ladiero, for her understanding and assistance and. Mrs. Maria Elena R. Maniego for the constant reminders that she gave to her and much needed motivation. Mrs. Loreta Merza for the help and inspiration he extended. All English Department, faculty members and Staff. The section of Four Hope 2012-2013 for assisting in the collection of the topics for the chapters. Most especially to my family and friends and to God, who made all things possible and make me confident to this. TABLE OF CONTENTS * ACKNOWLEDGEMENT * CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A.) Statement of the problem B.) Importance of the study C.) Scope and limitation D.) Definition of terms * CHAPTER...
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...Interventions Suicide is defined as the intentional taking of one's own life. Depression, drugs and alcohol play a major factor in the cause for suicide amongst a wide range of individuals. Suicide is alarming in the United States and is seemingly robbing the vitality of individuals from 18 to 65 years old. Sadly there are multiple reasons for the attempts and success of suicide but with the stressor in society it makes it hard for one to address the underlying issues. Youth Suicide When it comes to suicide among our youth the numbers are alarming. Each year in the United States it has been estimated that around two million of our youth has attempted suicide and at least 700,000 have received some sort of medical attention for these attempts. According to one study performed by The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System in 2001 alone 2.6% of all students reported making such an attempt which lead to treatment by a doctor or nurse. However it has been estimated that in the United States alone around 2,000 of our youth ranging from 10-19 years of age actually commit suicide. Also in 2000 suicide was the third cause of death among our young people ranging from 15 to 24years of age, which followed unintentional injuries and homicides (CDC Wonder). With this they provided some statistics for further review they are as follows: * The suicide rate for children aged 10-14years old was 1.5/100,000 or 300 deaths among 19,895,072 children in this age group. * The suicide rate...
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...each year but not from cancer or car accidents, but by their own hands. They made the ultimate choice to commit suicide. What is the meaning of "Suicide"? According to Dictionary.com, suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-24 aged Americans, behind accidents and homicide. Teensuicidestatistics.com wrote, " Even more disturbing is the fact that suicide is the forth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14. It is said that for every 100,00 people, there is a rate of 11.3 percent suicide deaths. During the adolescent years, teenagers experience strong feelings of stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, and other fears while growing up. These feelings in themselves are not harmful, but normal. However, those who can not handle these situations are ones that attempt suicide. Suicide among teenagers is seriously an issue Americans should put an importance to decease the statistics. There many cause leading to teenage suicide, including divorce of parents; violence at home; being bulling at school for their appearance; feeling of worthlessness; substance abuse; and etc… The most common causer is depression. 900,000 youth planned their suicide during an episode of major depression, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Depression is a mood disorder characterized by over whelming feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities, and often...
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...Teenage Suicide Victoria Campbell Liberty University Abstract Teenage suicide has become an epidemic, spreading rampantly across the United States and throughout the entire world. Every year, numerous teenagers make the decision to end his or her life. Suicidal adolescents can be from all aspects and walks of life. Each gender, every race, and every socioeconomic status is affected by teenage suicide. The ongoing crisis of teenage or adolescent suicide is in need of further understanding and attention. Extensive research is needed in hope of saving every adolescent that is suicidal. Certain questions need to be taken into consideration in order to understand a suicidal teenager. What could possibly drive a teenager to want to take his or her life? What are some signs that a teenager is contemplating about committing suicide? Who is able to help a suicidal teenager and what can be done to prevent teenage suicide? What interventions are already in place and what actions need to be implemented? Teenage Suicide Every death is a tragedy for a family, but when a teenager decides to end his or her own life, it seems to be even more heartbreaking. The family, friends, and the entire community are left questioning what could have possibly gone wrong and how this could have occurred. They are constantly wondering why this had to happen and what was going on in that teenager’s life to make him or her want to commit suicide. By recognizing at risk teenagers, having proper understanding...
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...Suicide Amongst Youth November 21, 2013 INTRODUCTION Barry parr, a window cleaner in a small town, was working as usual in December 2001, not expecting anything interesting to happen. Suddenly, he heard a yell from afar and saw a 14 year old girl who was preparing to hang herself from a nearby tree. He showed signs of his incipient heroism as he quickly grabbed his ladder and ran across the road to try and talk her into retreating. He tried, and that was when she got real about committing suicide. As Barry started to climb up his ladder, the girl jumped off. Luckily, Barry was close enough and strong enough and he caught her in his arms, holding her high enough to save her life. Unfortunately, however, Barry was now in an unlucky situation. Barry was out on a cold winter day when people hardly walked by, and he had in his arms, a 14 year old girl who was trying really hard to squirm out of his grasp and kill herself. Barry held on to her for an entire hour before someone passed by and called the cops. The come eventually came and helped, but not before Barry had proven to the girl, how far the world was willing to go, to save her life and keep this one lonely girl around. Suicide is a tragic and preventable mental health problem. Suicide is irrational to those who are not suicidal, but to those who are, it is the only means of escape that there is. The reason most people consider suicide to be irrational is because suicide is a permanent solution to a problem which...
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...In America the rates of suicide among the elderly aged 65 and older has continued to increase. Unassisted suicide is defined as a decision that is usually made in isolation by an individual who is often suffering from depression. Suicide has been prevalent throughout history. There are up to nine references about suicide in the Old Testament. The risks and the number of suicides increase more among the elderly aged 85 and older. The majority of the incidences occur due to the mental health issues of the individual. An obstacle faced by mental health professionals in reaching this group is that older adults usually prefer not to seek treatment for their mental health problems. The elderly are the fastest growing portion of the population,...
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...Suicide Among the Elderly: Symptoms that are ignored University of California, Irvine Professor Webster P117D November 27, 2007 Suicide among the elderly: Symptoms that are ignored More than 30,000 Americans every year commit suicide. A suicide happens every eighteen minutes. The highest rate of suicide of any age group occurs among the elderly. The elderly make up 12.6% of the population, yet they account for almost 18% of all the suicides. An elderly suicide occurs every 100 minutes. Suicide ranks as the eighth leading cause of death among those aged 65 and older (Noffsinger, Knoll). Firearms consist of the main method in which the elderly take their lives. The next two in line are overdosing and suffocation. White men over the age of 85 are at the greatest risk of all groups. In 1999, the suicide rate for these individuals was 59.6 per 100,000. 84% of all elderly suicides are men. The rate of suicide for women declines after age 60. Although older adults may attempt suicide less often, they have a higher completion rate. Contrary to popular belief, only about 2-4% of suicide victims were diagnosed with terminal illness at the time of their demise. 80% of all elderly victims of suicide have seen a primary care physician within six months of their suicide. Why is it that the suicide rates for older adults are much higher than every other age group? Depression is a key factor for the rates of suicide in the elderly. Depression is...
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...anorexia nervosa, personality, eating disorders, mood disorders, and in this case depression disorders. The rate of depression is higher among poor people than wealthier people The majority of people who have mood disorders mostly suffer from depression and this is known as unipolar depression. The patients have never had incidents of mania and the mood returns back to normal when depression ceases, those who suffer from mania it’s known as bipolar disorder. (Comer, 1992). Black box warning The State has for along issued caution on the use of anti-depressant drugs in adolescents, children, and young adults this is because these drugs have been for to cause suicidal in these people. This evaluation explored on the management of depression has that led to the cautions and successive data. It as well addressed the efficacy of anti-depressant management and the connection to suicide rates to anti-depressant management. It also included the resolutions of black box cautions that had been based on prejudiced data and unfounded theories. The decisions were unsupported. After the a black-box caution on anti-depressants drugs by FDA that described the potential suicide risk in children there was a sharp declined overall use , not only with children but also with the adults especially with the use of fluoxetine In this case antidepressant use in pediatric and risk suicide brought about this tension to...
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...Running head: TEEN SUICIDE IS AN EPIDEMIC Teen Suicide October 20, 2012 Introduction Every year, thousands of youth die in the Unites States and one million worldwide. Not from cancer or motor vehicle accidents by their own hand. For whatever reason they make that choice that they no longer want to live, and they take their own life. According to statistic, suicide has been known to be the third leading cause of death for young persons between the age of fifteen to twenty-four years; and it is the eleventh cause of death for persons of all ages in the United States. Many people think these are remote incidents, but they are not. Teen suicide is an epidemic that keeps on growing on daily basis. According to the estimate by the center for disease and prevention, annually, over five hundred thousand teenagers from age 15 to 24 will attempt to kill themselves and about five thousand of these teenagers succeeded (National Institute of Mental Health, 2002). Theses estimate indicated that the number of teenagers that committed suicide (five thousand) is synonymous to the number of people whom the cause of death was cancer or homicide. The number of teenagers, who committed suicide over the years, has outnumbered the number of teenagers who were killed by homicides by at least ratio three to two. That is ridiculous! To some people it sound unbelievable but as we continue to read various articles and continue to expose these occurrences on the internet...
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...Teen Suicide Research Paper People need to be informed on why teens commit suicide and what signs to look for. Teens are slowly slipping away because of this deadly subject and people need to start noticing. Sometimes people can get caught up in their own personal lives and not even notice when a loved one is considering suicide. In the seven articles read, there were a variety of things that people seem to overlook often. Why teens are committing suicide and what people can do to help victims who are considering, are two main points that are important for people to know. In a Kids Health article about teen suicide, it talks about teen suicide and different things people need to know about it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year-olds. Most of the time, people don’t realize that they could have helped a victim because they didn’t know any of the warning signs. The article goes on to talk about the risks of suicide, that 60% of all suicide in America are used with a gun. This is why no one should ever have a gun unlocked or kept in a place where it is easily out of reach. In 1996, more teenagers and young adults died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined .In 1996, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among college students, the third-leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 24 years,...
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...College is a multibillion dollar company; they focus on expanding and renovating their campuses to attract more students to their business every year. Furthermore, they idolize their athletic programs and community involvement to portray the idea that college is all fun and games. However, millions of college students are struggling with mental health disorders and have no one to help them. ABC reported in 2016 that one in four college students suffer from some form for mental illness, including depression, and one out of every twelve students formulates a plan to commit suicide (Sabatke). While 102,000 fans sing “Rocky Top” at the top of their lungs on a fall Saturday, thousands of students question the worth of continuing to live. It has...
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...TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Definition of adolescence and adolescent depression 2 2. Adolescent depressive symptoms 4 3. Problems with diagnosis of depression in adolescents 4 4. Gender factors that may play a role in assessing depression 6 5. Contextual factors that may play a role in assessing depression 8 6. Suicide 9 ‘Like anyone else, I have always had times when I felt deeply depressed, but this was something altogether new in my experience – a despairing, unchanging paralysis of the spirit beyond anything I had ever known or imagined could exist.’ The author William Styron (1990). (Kring, Johnson, Davison & Neale 2012:132) 1. Definition of adolescence and adolescent depression Adolescence is the period of development marked at the beginning by the onset of puberty and at the end by the attainment of physiological or psychological maturity (Reber, Allen & Reber 2009). It is a period of transition from childhood into adulthood, involving changes in physical development, cognitive abilities, emotional adjustment and self esteem. Adolescence is a time of acute stress. It is a period of social sorting and identity formation. Erikson described development that occurs throughout the lifespan in his theory of psychosocial development. During the adolescent period, which Erikson called ‘Identity vs Role confusion’, adolescents need to develop a sense of self and personal identity...
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...Individuals with suicidal behaviors often feel hopeless which contributes to these behaviors and can lead to suicide attempts or succession. Recognizing these behaviors can save someone’s life, being compassionate, empathetic, and proactive can greatly reduce an individual’s suicide behavior. The goal is to recognize these behaviors and get help for these individuals quickly. “In the past three decades, there has been a dramatic increase in rates of suicidal behavior, including suicidal thoughts, attempts, and death.” (Beautrais, 2003, para. 2). This increase in these behaviors is frightening. Knowing the contributing factors to suicidal behaviors is the first step in understanding the type of help that is needed for individuals. According to DeMaso there are definite risk factors and causes that contribute to these behaviors. The risk factors include family history of suicidal attempt or succession, substance abuse, self-harming, and access to guns. Family history of mental illness and suicide succession heightens other family members to watch for signs of depression or suicidal behavior, in such cases keeping guns and medications locked up reduces the chances of suicide attempt and overdosing. “Suicidal behaviors may occur when there is a situation or event that the person finds overwhelming” (DeMaso, 2015, para. 2). Some causes that contribute to these behaviors are depression and other mental disorders such as PTSD, bipolar, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder...
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