Suicide of Teens and Young Adults

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students and the third-leading cause of death among youth overall (ages 15-24).

Every hour and forty-five minutes another young person commits suicide

Teen/youth suicide rates have tripled since 1970.

These statistics probably do not surprise you. You may know someone who has committed suicide, or you may have a friend or relative who you have seen go through the grief of loosing a young person to suicide. This age group in particular seems to be the most disturbing. Often we find ourselves asking, "Why would someone so young with so much potential end their lives?" The focus of what I plan to discuss revolves around something I call the desperation point. This is what causes the actual act of committing suicide.

The desperation point may happen without any warning, or it may take decades to arrive at. There are many ways to create this intense desperation. The key thing to remember with this theory is that most likely for someone to commit suicide, they must be at a mental point of instability...that is to say that the young person becomes desperate for whatever myriad of reasons in their life and either attempts or succeeds in the act of ending their own life. Some form of depression and/or other mental disorders seem to be present in people who commit/attempt suicide.

Some occurrences that would cause instant desperation could include: a loss of a loved one, a drastic change of some type in the life of the young person, coming-out of the closet to parents who do not accept the lifestyle, being diagnosed with a terminal illness, sexual assault, disapproval of some life-choice by someone who the individual is co-dependant upon, etc. Desperation point caused by longer issues could include: chronic pain, downward spiral of depression, being trapped in an addiction and feeling that there is "no way out" except for suicide, etc.

When discussing suicide, methods of achieving the aim are also full of questions. Why do some succeed and some fail? Why do others choose one method and some another? What makes an attempt successful? Some of the most common methods for attempting suicide are firearm to the head, taking some form of pills, jumping off of bridges or buildings, and slitting the wrists. It is common sense to see that a firearm to the head would be more successful perhaps than jumping, taking pills, or slitting the wrists. However it is not certain that any form will do the job "correctly" and not leave the person severely damaged, and still alive. People who succeed in suicide have often attempted before. "...Evidence indicates that for every suicide, they are 50 to 100 attempts at suicide..."

Tags: suicide desperation young person someone point cause their taking wrists