ADOLESCENT SUICIDE
The growing number of adolescent suicides is alarming. Each year more than 5,000 young people from ages 15 to 24 kill themselves. The rate of suicide for this age group has nearly tripled during the past 20 years, making it the second leading cause of adolescent death.
Possible Causes
Evidence was found in a recent study of adolescent suicide attempts during a two-year period that a young person's attempt may be based on the combination of longstanding problems coupled with a triggering event.
The severely depressed young person may have trouble with parents, siblings, friends or authority. Suicidal thoughts can develop from a perceived loss of love or rejection by people important to the young person. The suicidal adolescent views a temporary situation as a permanent loss. Feelings of anger and resentment combined with exaggerated guilt often culminate in self-destruction.
It is important to recognize the stresses of adolescence. It is a time of change, crisis, pressure and a tendency to react impulsively. Chronic fears about sexual identity or intellectual and physical inferiority, as well as anxiety about parent's expectations and peer acceptance, frequently burden young people.
Recent studies on suicide suggest that biological and chemical changes in the body's system may be associated with self-destruction. In some cases, the despondence or anger of the person may be a sign of an underlying mental illness. Some conditions, such as depression, are treatable.
The suicidal adolescent is crying out for help. Frequently, the person does not see death as final, but rather a temporary means of escape from reality. The adolescent may, in fact, not really want to die.
Symptoms
Some of the changes in behavior associated with adolescent depression and suicide do not necessarily imply suicidal behavior, but may be strong indicators of serious problems. This is especially true if more than one sign is present and persists over an extended period of time. These conditions include:
- decreased appetite
- interrupted or changed sleep patterns
- avoidance of friends and normal social activities
- angry outbursts, tearfulness or increased touchiness
- withdrawn, uncommunicative
- marked personality change from outgoing
- frequent physical complaints or fatigue
- use of drugs, alcohol or self-abusive behavior (includes intentional reckless driving)
- preoccupation with death
- obsessive fear of nuclear war
- irrational, bizarre behavior
- overwhelming sense of guilt or shame
- feelings of sadness, hopelessness or despair
- interrupted or changed sleep patterns
A suicide attempt is the most serious of warnings. Four out of five people who kill themselves have previously given clues to their intentions. The adolescent may give away treasured belongings or write a "will." Another obvious cry for help is a suicide threat. Many adolescents who commit suicide have previously threatened to do so.
The apparently normal period following a person's critical period is often the most dangerous. Recent studies indicate that this is the time when a person is more relaxed and able to plan the death and make arrangements accordingly.
Prevention
The cardinal rule of suicide prevention is:Do Something. Get Help.
Trust your own judgment. Don't wait for other signs to develop. Don't be afraid of embarrassment. Break a confidence if need be. Save a young life at the risk of temporarily breaking a friendship.
Encourage an adolescent with depressive or suicidal symptoms to talk about feelings Do not ignore the feelings. Listen don't lecture.
Don't pass off an expression of suicidal feelings with "it'll be okay." The person who is seriously considering suicide will not believe you. Take all threats seriously. Reassure the young person that suicidal thoughts are not a sign of being "weird" or "bad."
Go to key people in the young person's life: family, friends, teachers and school counselors. Seek support for the adolescent.
Help is Available
Help is not hard to find. Adolescents can go to peer support groups, teachers and school counselors who are trained in working with such problems. Parents and families can seek help from physicians, community mental health centers or a member of the clergy. For immediate assistance, crisis intervention centers and hospital emergency rooms and psychiatric units usually offer 24-hour services.
The Mental Health Association (MHA) in your area is an excellent resource for finding the proper services for a troubled adolescent. It is composed of parents of children with mental illnesses, professionals and concerned citizens who work through programs of education, social action and advocacy to improve services for people with mental illnesses and to promote mental health. Through information and referral services--a basic program of most MHAs--a parent of concerned friend can discover where to turn for services.
Professional counseling may be necessary to deal with an adolescent's suicidal thoughts and feelings. A depressed adolescent needs to have assistance in increasing self-esteem and improving perceptions of the world to learn to cope with reality.
Family and friends care and love are crucial to trying to prevent suicide. Security and understanding can help provide a young person with the strength to face the future optimistically. Your caring Support and Actions May Save a Young Life.
United Way Member Agency