A research paper on teen suicide and possible prevention strategies. Survival is one of the basic instincts for all living things. Throughout the Earth’s history, life has fought against all odds, adapting and evolving into more and more complex organisms and surviving despite the odds stacked against it. People commonly use phrases describing life as “a gift”, “precious”, even “invaluable”, yet the CDC reports 460,076 Americans died by suicide between 2008 and 2018, 25,272 of whom were between the ages of 10 and 19 (WISQARS). What can move a person to take their own life? Why has society been incapable of preventing or lessening the heavy emotional burdens these people experience? How can we as a society change that? To save anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts, these questions must be answered. As a society, Americans must focus on eliminating the negative experiences that make people susceptible to suicidal thoughts, catering to the traits that increase teenagers’ ri, and becoming strong and trustworthy support systems for their loved ones, capable of talking down and getting help to those who struggle with high suicidality. This can be the difference between life and death. There are many stops on the train to suicide, the four most crucial being suicide ideation, suicide plans, suicide attempts, and serious suicide attempts, in order of increasing risk. Suicide ideation involves thinking about and considering actions and behaviors that will end one’s life (Spivey and Prinstein). Approximately one-third of teenagers who mull over suicide in this way go on to develop suicide plans, where they consider the specific methods they may use to end their lives (Spivey and Prinstein). Sixty percent of teenagers with suicide plans go on to attempt suicide, “engaging in self-injurious behaviors with the intention of ending one's life” (Spivey and Prinstein). It is here researchers have found the tracks diverge into two distinct groups: “multiple-attempters” as they are often referred to, are four times more likely to attempt suicide again in the future when compared to “single-attempters”, and the former are more likely to commit serious suicide attempts, in conditions where they likely will not be helped or stopped (Spivey and Prinstein). It is important people are aware of the differences between the stops on the train to suicide, as well as the fact that everyone’s journey on the tracks is unique. Some spend a majority of their lives traveling from one station to the next, back-and-forth repeatedly. Others never stray past the first stop. Boarding the train does not always lead to suicide attempts or death, due to reconsideration or outside influence and support, meaning no one on the line is condemned to die. Despite the fact that many people have journeyed on the doomed line themselves, and countless more have lost a friend, family member, or mentor to suicide, the conversation surrounding suicide remains relatively quiet in American society. Commonly, especially in entertainment media, suicide has been associated with and depicted as a last resort after failure, in some cases the result of a messy divorce, job termination, personal financial crisis, or the grief of losing a partner or child. At least in the United States, teenagers are lucky enough not to experience these turmoils until much later into their lives, if ever. Teens, however, are exposed to a glamorized perspective of suicide. Much of the media geared to teens that include characters struggling with suicidality usually idealize and glorify it. Suicide is often depicted as the logical end to a tragic struggle with life and love, even as a victory against one’s oppressors. 13 Reasons Why, a show which premiered in 2017, follows the story of a 16-year-old girl after she has committed suicide, and is narrated via cassette tapes she left behind detailing the reasons for her suicide and blaming people in her life. The show has been accused of “treat[ing] its heroine’s death as a victory of sorts” in which she “triumph[s] over her enemies” (Grady). Teens are incredibly vulnerable to what is known as “suicide contagion” in which the depiction of suicide (of a prominent individual or perhaps in a popular piece of media) leads to some who are struggling with suicidal ideation to attempt suicide (Grady). Suicide contagion functions the same way as media’s influence on children and teens. The audience identifies with and even sometimes adapts mannerisms and phrases from characters and their experiences. To someone struggling with suicidality, identifying with a character struggling in a similar way is natural, and being exposed to that character’s suicide attempt(s) can lead to a real-life parallel. These depictions of suicide in the media, however harmful they may be to those struggling, are not directly responsible for their struggles. Removing or censoring them will not help those struggling in the long run. Many have been identified as capable of increasing someone’s risk of committing suicide in their lifetime, and the results of multiple studies have limited this list to a handful of factors that specifically affect suicidality in teenagers. A study by the Stanford University School of Medicine and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaii analyzing the effect of substance abuse on suicidality notes its findings are “limited by a lack of control for multiple confounding factors implicated in suicidality: factors that include sexual abuse, interpersonal violence, early sexual intercourse, psychopathology including depression, and socio-demographics including gender and ethnicity” (Wong, et al). All of these factors have been independently found to be capable of having detrimental effects on youth and their mental wellbeing. It is perhaps easier to understand the danger violent factors have on teenagers, especially when compared to some of the non-violent factors more rarely included in the conversation surrounding suicide with suicide, such as socio-demographic standing, but both are capable of a grave effect on a teenager’s psyche. In order to make any progress in the battle against teenage suicide, it is vital we as a society realize both “common” and “rare” factors as dangerous, the “rare” factors potentially more so as they are commonly overlooked and unaccounted for. The minority stress theory alleges members of stigmatized or minority groups in their environment “experience disproportionate rates of psychological distress and negative health outcomes” due to “identity-related stressors” which can increase their suicidality (Spivey and Prinstein). This means any trait that isolates a teenager from their environment has the capability of causing dangerously high levels of distress, whether it is uncontrollable factors such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, disability, or another physical trait the teen possesses. This undesired differentiation from the rest of a teenager’s environment can push them further into themselves, where they find the only way to assert control over their lives is to inflict pain upon themselves, or leave tangible wounds and scars. Traumatic events have long been known to have adverse effects on their victims, especially when they occur early in life. These events, sometimes vehicular accidents, mass attacks, or abuse by a loved one, can leave victims with maladaptive thinking, thoughts that are rationally unsupported. This negative thinking has the capability of spreading to all aspects of one’s psyche, leading them to believe they deserve the bad thing(s) that happen to them or that these events are their own fault, and leaving them feeling isolated, hopeless, and helpless, all of which is capable of making them severely suicidal. Furthermore, the effects of these traumatic experiences and unalterable factors in teenagers can be multiplied by substance abuse, as a joint study by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Hawaii found. Substance abuse was found to “exacerbate the intensity and duration of depression” and may even “increase the risk of relationship difficulties with family, peers, and partners, which are known to be one of the most important precipitating events for suicide” (Wong, et al). These effects serve to further isolate teens from their environments and potential support systems, making them more vulnerable to the depressive and suicidal thoughts they may already struggle with. While science has a somewhat solid understanding of suicide and its causes, even in teenagers, which constitute a more rarely studied group, preventative measures are not taken on a large scale. Suicide carries a great deal of stigma, even in modern day America, pushing many experiencing suicidal thoughts to keep it to themselves. Teenagers tend to be more emotionally closed off in general, making them disproportionately more likely to keep their struggles a secret. Kevin Breel describes the effect of this heavy stigma on his own struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts by saying “what you really fear the most isn't the suffering inside of you. It's the stigma inside of others, it's the shame, it's the embarrassment, it's the disapproving look on a friend's face...That's what keeps you from getting help” (Breel). Breel made it off the train before it was too late, but so many others have bound themselves to it because of the fear of judgement and stigma. Oftentimes family members and friends do not suspect their loved one is suicidal due to the stigmas they themselves carry regarding suicide. It is far too easy to shrug off or downplay an interaction that makes it seem like a loved one is suicidal, especially if there is no reason to suspect they are struggling. Time and time again we hear of stories from family and friends expressing their deceased loved one showed no signs of suicidality, despite the fact that eighty percent of all American teens who commit suicide have expressed clear warning signs, such as changes in exercise, sleep, or public interaction (Bakshi). Human brains struggle to detect patterns like those that suggest suicidality and potential future attempts unless they are explicitly looking for and tracking such information, making it simply impossible for people to see these warning signs in their loved ones before it is too late. Tanmay Bakshi proposes we use artificial intelligence to track behaviors and establish patterns to identify people who may be at risk, the same technology currently used all over the internet to establish targeted ad campaigns. Artificial neural networks have the capability to eliminate “noise” in data sets and identify patterns as well as inconsistencies, which could then be used to provide teenagers with the support they desperately need. Structures currently in place in the United States, such as the suicide helpline, do wonders for many struggling with suicidal thoughts. Suicidal teens, however, do not use this vital resource as much as members of other age groups, likely because they are more comfortable communicating with and through technology as opposed to calling a stranger through a helpline (Bakshi). In fact, it has been estimated seven out of ten teenagers will tell a friend before attempting suicide, but many times this trusted confidant says nothing (Dodd). Greg Hundall set off to change this troubling statistic by founding the Hope Squad, consisting of trustworthy students nominated by their peers and trained “to recognize warning signs in their mentally ill or suicidal peers and empower them to seek help from an adult” (Dodd). Groups such as the Hope Squad provide teenagers with the support system they may otherwise lack, and in the form of friends they trust and talk to. Expanding this type of training to districts and schools across the country can save thousands of students now, and countless more people later, when trainees have graduated and moved into the workplace, or have teenagers of their own. The experiences and factors that put many on the track to attempting suicide can prove to be a life-long struggle. Lack of support and the threat of intenseーand unfairーtreatment means many, especially teenagers who pride themselves on appearances, don’t ask for help. We as a society need to work together to educate ourselves on the warning signs and risk factors, decrease stigma, and cultivate welcoming and safe environments so those struggling can get the help they need before it is too late. These teenagers are the product of generations of struggles, amongst ourselves, against our foes, against the very Earth we call home. Yet they are so plagued by their presence that all the strength that exists within them is not enough. If society takes simple actions now to support these struggling warriors, we can prevent thousands from riding the train past that final station and cutting their lives short. Works Cited Bakshi, Tanmay, director. Technology That Tackles the Teen Suicide Epidemic. TED, Dec. 2017, www.ted.com/talks/tanmay_bakshi_technology_that_tackles_the_teen_suicide_epidemic. Breel, Kevin, director. Confessions of a Depressed Comic. TED, May 2013, www.ted.com/talks/kevin_breel_confessions_of_a_depressed_comic/transcript. Dodd, Johnny. “TEENS SAVING TEENS Preventing Youth Suicides.” People, vol. 92, no. 1, July 2019, pp. 104–107. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=137066847&site=ehost-live. Grady, Constance. Why It's so Hard to Prove That 13 Reasons Why Caused an Increase in Suicide. 3 May 2019, www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/3/18522559/13-reasons-why-netflix-youth-suicide-rate. Spivey, Leigh A., and Mitchell J. Prinstein. “A Preliminary Examination of the Association between Adolescent Gender Nonconformity and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 47, no. 4, Apr. 2019, pp. 707–716. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0479-6. WISQARS Data Visualization. wisqars-viz.cdc.gov:8006/explore-data/home. Wong, Shane, et al. “The Risk of Adolescent Suicide across Patterns of Drug Use: A Nationally Representative Study of High School Students in the United States from 1999 to 2009.” Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 48, no. 10, Oct. 2013, pp. 1611–1620. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0721-z. August 2020, 11th Grade
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