Teens - About Suicide

If you or anyone you know has ever dealt with suicidal thoughts, tendencies and threats, you know it can be frightening. The statistics themselves are scary. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, "eighteen teen-agers per day kill themselves in the United States," and in 2001, "Suicide was the third leading cause of death among young people 15 to 24."  David Elkind, adolescent psychiatrist and author, reports "a recent survey of two thousand teens in Who's Who Among American High School Students found that 30% of these young people had considered suicide, 4% attempted it, and 60% said they knew a peer who had attempted suicide or killed themselves." Another very useful site can be found at The American Psychiatric Association.

Possible Causes of Teen Suicide:

• Family Disruption - changes in habitation or difficulty in the relationship between parents
• Depression
• Escape - an attempt to flee from an uncomfortable set of circumstances: illness, humiliation, guilt, punishment
• Loss - a death or separation
• Guilt
• Attention - a suicide attempt may be a desperate cry for help
• Manipulation or revenge
• Impulse - experimentation with death

Warning Signs:

The website # 1 Teenage Suicide lists many of the possible warning signals of incurring suicidal tendencies:

• Previous suicide attempts
• Threats of suicide or talk about death
• Depression, Moodiness, Withdrawal
• Preparation for death
• Fatigue, sudden changes in behavior

The Effects of Suicide: Obviously, the primary effect of suicide is the loss of a life. In adolescence, it is the loss of a young life. Few teenagers contemplating suicide recognize the far-reaching effects that suicide can have on those previously close to them.

• Grief - friends and family members must come to terms with death; parents often blame themselves, friends ask questions like "what could I have done to stop this?"
• Anger - people close to the person who committed suicide often respond with anger and fear.
• Further Destruction - suicide plants "seeds of destruction" in the lives of those around them. Law enforcement officials label this as "cluster suicides."

Where to Find Help: Listed below are a few suggestions when dealing with someone who may express suicidal thoughts, tendencies or threats. Further information can be found at Handling a Call from Suicide.

• Listen - always take the mention of suicide seriously
• Stay calm, understanding and supportive
• Ask questions about their safety - make sure they are not going to harm themselves
• Suggest praying with them
• Never keep threats of suicide a secret - be sure to tell a trusted adult
• Get resources, phone numbers and hotlines that may be of help in an emergency. Crisis HotLine Finder

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