The killing of own life intentionally is referred as suicide. Over the past years, American society has been concerned about this issue, especially teenage suicide. The suicide rate among teenagers is not constant for a period of time; it keeps changing over time. Most of the time, the suicide rate among boys is greater than that among girls. Different types of people in our society respond to this issue in different ways. Earlier in this year, some 932 parents of adolescents completed a questionnaire of 30 common psychological medical concerns of adolescence, among which suicide was one item.
They were asked how important it is for ediatricians to discuss these with their kids during checkups. The result showed that more than 66% of the parents being questioned said 29 of the 30 items were important to be discussed with their teenage children. This survey showed that American parents are somehow concerned about suicide among teenagers. This concern is pervasive among American teenagers. In 1993, a national survey of adolescents about their knowledge of, and attitudes toward, youth suicide was made.
The survey reulted that 60% of the teenagers reported knowing another teen who had attempted suicide while 6% reported having make an attempt themselves. The above two examples indicates that it is very important for parents, counselors, or different institutions to become aware of the reasons and symptons of teenage suicide and to find out possible preventive procedures. Recently, an examination of suicide rates among Black and White adolescents from 1986 to 1991 was made. It showed that suicide rate among girls of all ethnicities remained stable.
Also, the rate for White boys were pretty much stabilized; however, the rate for Black and other minority boys increased significantly. Those increases were more rapid in areas where suicide rates were historically low. This phenomenon tells that there are various kinds of reasons for suicide and different types of methods for suicide are also being used. During the late 1970s and early 1980s in Oxford, the rate of deliberate self-poisoning and self-injury in older female teenagers declined, but it increased again between 1986 and 1989.
For male adolescents, self-poisoning with minor tanquillizers and sedatives had declined, but paracetamol self- poisoning increased in that period. In Zimbabwe, young women during 1970s used poison as the method of suicide; however, self-immolation was frequently being used in the mid 1980s. There are various types of reasons why teenagers commit suicide. Suicide in teenagers is sometimes linked to, or in relation with, vision therapy. It was argued that an inadequate level of concentration or short attention span of a patient is a common cause for the academic, personality, and behavioral symptoms.
Therefore, unless treated well, these symptoms might lead to committing suicide. The reasons for gay, lesbian, or bisexual adolescents committing suicide are a little different than other teenagers. Research shows that gay, lesbian, or bisexual teenagers often lack peer support and positive role models, and herefore, find it difficult to establish a positive adolescent identity. As a result, a large number of them suffer from psychological dysfunction, running away, droping out of school, prostitution, violence, AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases. Eventually, these dangerous behaviors sometimes lead them to suicide.
Teenagers may also want to commit suicide if they are sexually or physically molested for a certain period of time. In 1992, data from 352 pregnant adolescents (aged 12-19) were collected, in which 80 acknowledged having been physically or sexually abused, and 40 admitted to having suicidal deation or actions. In 1994, two cases of Italian teenagers who had attempted suicide were discussed and compared. The suicide attempt of a 17-year old female is traced to masochistic impulses based on a sense of guilt, while that of a 18-year old male is explained by a narcissistic neurosis stemming from a sense of shame.
A panal formed by national medical and educational associations issued a report in 1993, which painted a dire picture of the state of adolescent health. The analysis of the report presented youth problems, including social and emotional problems, school performance, drug use, drinking and driving, violence n school, pregnancy, crime, etc. as common reasons for and characteristics of a teen’s self-destructive nature, which eventually leads him or her to suicide. In Canada, researches were made to figure out the reasons for teenage suicide.
It showed lack of moral parental support, an over-permissive educational climate, and doubtful economic prospects as placing pressures on the fragile ego and the still-unformed identity of teenagers. In this situation, some react with drug abuse, dilinquency, or compulsively sought scholastic achievement, while others, unable to cope with these psychological pressures, commit suicide. Sometimes, there is a relationship between network TV news stories and subsequent suicides. For example, some teenagers (also adults) may react deeply to a sudden news presented, and eventually, it might cause them to commit suicide.
During the past two decades, the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts among U. S. gifted students has steadily increased. There are many reasons for these suicides. In addition to the usual stressors, gifted teenagers also confront such issues as perfectionism, societal expectation to achieve, differential development of intellectual and social skills, and impotence to effect real-world change. These kinds of difficulties sometimes make the gifted teenagers to commit suicide. Another one of the most important reasons for teenage suicide is depression. Depression can occur due to various factors.
A survey in 1990 showed that depression has a strong correlation with suicidal preoccupation than shyness, allienation, or academic performance. Also, reports said that chronic self-destructiveness in teenagers is related to depression and suicidal preoccupation. Both chronic self-destructiveness and depression are associated with suicidal ideation. Since teenage suicide has been a burning issue, it is important to take fforts to prevent such an incident. Recently, a review of a literature indicated a need for suicide awareness and prevention programs for the early identification of teenagers at risk for suicidal behaviors.
In this case, the most logical and appropriate location for suicide prevention programs and activities is in the schools where the greatest numbers can be reached. Since the issue is involved with teenagers, high schools are the best place to set prevention programs. Therefore, in a joint effort, school personnel and the master’s-prepared psychiatric mental health nurse specialists may be able to ecrease significantly the number of suicidal behaviors among adolescents. Teenage suicide can also be reduced by properly treating adolescents with learning disabilities (LDs).
In general, those with non-verbal LDs eventually attempt suicide at some point than those without LDs. Therefore, optometrists should be aware of patients with learning disabilities and refer them to mental health professionals when indications of depression is observed. In this way, many teenagers can be prevented from committing suicide. A few years ago, the American Academy of Child Psychiatry identified ome warning signals indicating possible suicide such as: changes in eating and sleeping habits, violent or rebellious behaviors, etc.
In these kinds of situations, counselors can play a vital role for preventing suicide in teenagers. Most of the time, counselors are the first professionals confronted with symptoms or threats of suicide. They can apply coping techniques, which include anxiety reduction, creating hope, and improving adolescents’ communication skills to reduce the risk of suicide. In 1991, a journal stated some risk factors for suicide to which prevention procedures can rationally be directed.
Suicide prevention interventions include hotline and crisis services, school- based educational and screening procedures, effective treatment of suicide attempts, and minimizing opportunities for suicide. These methods may become helpful in preventing teenage suicide. It is sometimes very difficult to eliminate a crisis completely from the society. Likewise, teenage suicide is also not quite easy to wipe out from the American society. However, people in general, parents of adolescents, teachers, counselors, and other kinds of social workers can work together to fight against teenage suicide.
