Essay, Research Paper: Teen Suicide

Teen Suicide: The New Terrifying Epidemic

While parents raise their children, most of them never think about an ever-growing problem. That problem is teen suicide. While suicide is often kept out of dinner table discussions, the rapidly climbing rate is causing many to think that it needs to be spoken of more publicly, instead of being swept beneath the rug (Mulrine,64). Many teens face mounting problems, such as: teen drinking, drugs, peer pressure, grades, and jobs (Schleifer,11). Many young adults at this age, are very fragile, and are having trouble overcoming obstacles in their lives (Schleifer,12). Many teens fall into an inescapable downfall, that can lead to severe depression, and in many cases, suicide (Schleifer,13). Depressed adolescents will withdrawal from loved ones, while those same loves ones may excuse their serious problem for mood swings that are so very common in young adults (Mulrine,64). Quite often, when loved ones find that the youth has a problem, it is to late, and the teen has already committed suicide. Suicide, whether committed by a teen or an adult, leaves things behind, such as: feelings of anger, guilt and shame felt by the friends and family of the loves one (Schleifer,26). It is the 3rd leading cause of death in those aged 15-24 (Mulrine,64). Teen attempts are at an overwhelming 8%, and attempts in those aged 10-14 have doubled since 1990 (Mulrine,65). Also, it is found that over 90% of those who are depressed or suicidal, have a psychological illness (Schleifer,29). Many schools around the country have begun depression screening, the first step in preventing pointless deaths (Mulrine,65). However, in a recent study conducted by Washington University, they discovered that most school counselors and teachers were not familiar with recognizing depressed, and suicidal signals (Mulrine,66). While youths are avoiding those close to them for help, many are turning to suicide hotlines, which whose purpose is to deter prevent suicidal individuals into carrying out the act (Schleifer,51). Also contributing to the solution is further development in the Human Genome project, whose project goal is identify all 100,000 genes in human DNA (Mulrine,66). In March, 2000, they released information stating that depression may be hereditary, or transferred through genes (Mulrine,67). One in five women are clinically depressed while one in ten men are affected (Schleifer,47). While this statistic seems rather colossal, scientific advancements will eventually lower that number, and help us determine the definite causes, and cures (Mulrine,66). One thing that can be done, nevertheless is making the public more aware of the dilemma, and help them be apart of the solution.