Teenage Suicide 2 Essay, Research Paper
Why Do Some Teenagers Commit Suicide?
Mary and Todd had grown up together. Todd lived right next door to Mary and the two were pretty much inseparable. Todd often gave Mary rides on his motorcycle. But Mary and Todd seemed to be growing apart more and more each day. She had noticed that he had changed a lot. He was always alone, was no longer stopping by her house, and seemed to have lost his since of humor. One day, Todd saw Mary at the bus stop and waved. This made her feel better, but there was still something weird about him. He had lost so much wait and was smoking cigarettes more than he ever did. The funniest thing was that he was giving away his motorcycle that he had loved and cherished so deeply. Handing the keys to his friend Mike he said, “Take care of it. I really don t deserve it anymore. I don t deserve anything.” After school that day as Mary was getting off the bus she noticed two police cars parked in front of Todd s house. Mary asked one of her neighbors what had happened and she replied “Didn t you hear? Todd killed himself. He jumped off of the railroad bridge down by the river. The police found the body on the tracks and his parents found a note that said he had broken up with his girlfriend and fumbled a ball in a big game. Just think, 17 years old and he killed himself over that?”
Many people think about suicide (even briefly) in their lives. Almost everyone feels hopeless or depressed, which leads to sadness. Most people learn to cope with these feelings, but others might not can live with the fact that they lost someone or something so dear to them. What is it then that makes people think that killing themselves is the only answer?
Suicide is the second major cause of death of teenagers and young adults. Nine out of ten suicides take place in the persons own home. For every completed suicide there are an estimated 30 to 50 attempts. Seventy percent of attempted suicides are by females. Some of the reasons a person would be led to commit or attempt suicide are feeling sad, depressed, not good enough, or just plain lonely at the lost of a loved one.
Before a person commits or attempts suicide you can usually spot some difference in the way they act or behave. These are known as behavioral signs. If a person changes in eating or sleeping patterns, start to withdraw from their family and friends, have terrible mood swings, talk about suicide a lot, or give away valued possessions then they are probably punishing themselves and thinking everything is their fault, or feeling depressed and lonely.
There are also emotional signs when a person is feeling suicidal. If they are always depressed and low, or always telling people they are useless or how hopeless they feel, or they are feeling that there are no alternatives then they might be thinking of suicide and that there is no alternatives, but dying.
Some ways to help yourself if you are feeling suicidal are: Talk to someone. Get your feelings out. If the first person doesn t help you then go to another one. Identify what things in your life could be changed to improve your situation. Engage in stress reducing activities. Develop small goals and work them out step by step. Begin a self-improvement program. Look at your good points and develop them. Participate in activities at school. Join a club. Most importantly get help!
Some ways to help a person you think might be suicidal are: Take any threat seriously, even if it appears to just be a joke, assume the person is not just kidding. Show concern and ask straight-forward questions. Ask the person how serious they are about what they said to put themselves down. Have they found the reason they are thinking about committing suicide? emphasize that there is help available. Take charge! If the person is refusing your help and everyone else s, call someone immediately. Tell someone else about the risk. Never promise to keep information like this a secret. Remain with the person until the help is with you, even if it is against his/her will.
Suicide does not solve problems, it just creates even more problems than you started with. Your family becomes really sad and might even blame themselves. Before you think about suicide, put a lot of thought into what you are doing and after that talk to someone bout your problems. No problems are to large to cope with. Life is a precious gift don t waste it.