A Correlation Between Mental Illness And Suicide

Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between the age of 10 to 24 (CDCP)? According to the Jason Foundation, more adolescents die of suicide than of cancers, heart diseases, AIDs, birth defects, strokes, and pneumoniae combined. Particularly in the last fifteen years, the suicide rates of adolescent girls have tripled, experiencing the sharpest increase amongst the different age groups and genders (Bichell). In the United States, adolescent suicide is an ongoing social and health problem, in which people roughly between the age of 12 and 18, choose to take their own lives in order to escape an unfavorable situation or state-of-mind. Due to the increase in suicides, divorced families, and untreated depressions, adolescent suicide rates have dramatically risen. Current methods to reduce suicide rates, like the media’s guidelines for suicides and the government limiting access to firearms, have not been effective considering that the causes of the rise were not directly addressed or deeply considered. My methods to reduce adolescent suicide rates are to fully condemn suicide, by not mentioning it often, and to mandate educational programs on suicide and healthy relationships in all middle and high schools.

Suicide has been rising at alarming rates; the overall suicide rate for children and adolescents has increased over 300% since the 1950s. (Miller, 2009) Adolescent children are screaming out for our help, are we just ignoring the signs or do we not care? For young people, an average 1,800 take their own lives and 85,000 are hospitalized for attempts nationally (CDC, 2008). With this kind of statistics we need to step in and take some action.

According to the World Health Organization, “Suicide has surpassed homicide to become the second leading cause of death among ten to twenty-nine-year-olds; in 2012, suicide claimed the lives of more than five-thousand people within this age bracket” (Onieal 14). Five-thousand young people felt that the weight of the problems they were faced with was too much to handle, and suicide was the only solution. As a teen who struggled with clinical depression and anxiety, this is an issue that is very real to me. So many of these suicides could have been prevented if we were more aware of how many teens are struggling with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, and offered our support and strength to those who feel too weak to hold on any longer.

The rate of suicide, the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally, increases each year. “More adolescents die each year from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined” (Preventing Teen Suicide, 2016, p.2). These facts show suicide is a serious problem among teens. Last year, teen suicide became the second leading cause of death in the United States confirming the significant increase in teen suicides.

The United States takes the eleventh spot in the top fifteen causes of death because of suicide. For our youth suicide is the third leading cause of death. In today’s society suicide in our youth is becoming a huge issue. Recently, youth suicide in Delaware has been a concerning topic. With the many suicides that have been taking place; we ask ourselves why is this happening to Delaware’s youth? It’s quite sad reading of all the lives taken at such young ages. It’s still questionable on the real reasons why so much of our youth want to cut their life short. There are numbers of things on why possibly our youth would want to commit suicide. There is one reason that has been proven to be the head cause and that is mental illness. A mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions and disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness includes depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. (Staff, 2012) Some other causes may be bullying, drug and alcohol abuse and physical and sexual abuse. Youth that die by suicide believes that suicide is the only option at that moment; however Delaware has several resources available to prevent youth suicide.

Andy’s story is just one of many examples as to how the issue of ignoring mental illnesses can negatively affect individuals, especially the youth. One of the biggest issues related to these unchecked mental illnesses is suicide. Between the ages of 15 to 24, suicide is the second leading cause of death. The Center for Disease Control estimates that: “17% of students seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous 12 months, 13.6% of students made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2015, suicide is the second leading cause of death in the adolescent population in this country and the number of occurrences continues to rise at a dramatic rate. For every teen that completes a suicide, 100 make an attempt, making suicide a paramount public health issue that needs to be addressed. Statistics show that since 2009, the rates of attempted and completed suicide, in this age group continue to steadily increase (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015; Taliaferro, Oberstar, & Wagman-Borowsky, 2012).

Life is a cyclical journey of ups and downs; some of us have a difficult time getting through it in good spirits. However we get through it, and if we’re lucky, we grow old with a story to tell. Some of us just don’t make it; our lives are sometimes claimed too soon, sometimes by our own hand.. Why do people take their own lives? The seemingly selfish act begs the question, “Do they care at all about the traumatizing effects suicide has on their loved ones left behind? People need to know that all situations are temporary, with feasible solutions that enrich their lives; no temporary issue is worth committing suicide.. Many young adults face destructive, harmful, and suicidal thoughts daily. . The statistics show high rates of suicide in all demographics; young adults, however, are exponentially higher... With the many pressures of everyday life, there are many reasons why young adults turn to such a permanent act as suicide. Some suffer broken spirits from bullying, personality disorders, drug addictions, eating disorder; the list can go on and on. However, studies show the most common reason that young adults commit suicide is, mental illness. There are many forms of mental illness,

Although most of the media attention focuses on adolescent homicide, suicide deaths should have us more alarmed, and we should understand that adolescent suicide is a preventable public health issue. In adolescent Suicide deaths are more prevalent than homicide deaths (CDC, 2012). According to the National Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents age 13 to 17 (CDC, 2016). That number surpasses the number of deaths due to chronic diseases such as cancer, HIV, and diabetes. While this is a significant number, not all suicide attempts are reported (Joiner, 2005). Furthermore, suicide accounted for 10 % of

Teenage suicide is a major issue in today’s society; suicide is the intentional taking of one’s own life and is a momentous issue that should be addressed as quickly as possible. Teen suicide has been the topic of numerous news headlines; yet, it still continues to have a detrimental effect on today’s youth. In the United States, suicide is currently the eighth leading cause of death for Americans, and for young adults between the ages of 15 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death. This is extremely startling due to the fact that teen suicide is one of the most preventable forms of death. There are quite a number of

“I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart: but really with it, and in it” (Bronte) Every single year in the United States of America, approximately 2 million U.S. adolescents attempt suicide, and almost 700,000 receive medical attention for their attempt. What this means is that each year in the United States, 2,000 youth aged 10-19 complete suicide, making it the 3rd leading cause of death among young people. And here is the thing about teen suicide, every single year, this number continues to increase. The only real conclusions that these institutions have been able to reach is that some kids are merely ‘sick’, suffering

Can you remember all the thoughts as an adolescent when you were dealing with puberty, school, and peer pressure? It’s harder than it seems because during that stage, adolescents deal with an endless amount of stress from hormonal changes and trying to be “cool” or fit in with the crowd. The buildup of psychological, environmental, and social factors can lead to mental illnesses, which may cause suicidal distress in countless adolescents. Currently, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 to 24 (Gould 6). But no matter what age group or circumstance, suicide is a growing health concern that needs whole-hearted attention and preventative matters.

Each year, one out of thirteen teens age nineteen and under attempts suicide (Preface). Personally, that is more than enough teens choosing to take their lives each year. It isn’t really easy to figure out why some teens choose to take their lives. Suicide is a multi-faceted issue, sometimes an act of courage, sometimes an act of selfishness, sometimes a brave choice in the face of pain, and sometimes an act of fondness. It is important to understand why some choose to take their lives and some ways that in school and out of school we as individuals are able to help those in need.

Youth and young adult suicide is a major problem facing the United States and many other countries around the world today. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24. About 1 in 6 youth in 9th to 12th-grade report seriously considering suicide and while 1 in 12 report having attempted suicide (CDC 2014). There are multiple studies on youth and young adult suicides, what the contributing factors for youth and young adult suicides may be, who the youth and young adults were most likely to turn to, and what advice and services were most beneficial in the youth and young adults’ decision to not complete suicide.

Teen suicide is a BIG problem. “Adolescent suicide continues to be a major cause of death of our youth. The National Center for Health Statistics (1996) has found suicide to be the 3rd leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds, behind only accidents and homicide and the tenth leading cause of death in children under the age of fifteen (Ellis & Lane, qtd in “Do Increasing Adolescent”. As stated by these facts, even though they are out of date, suicide is on the rise. Suicide is an important topic in my life; I lost a great uncle to suicide when I was little. He had COPD and didn’t want to go through the suffering that comes with that particular disease. It was tragic when my 80 year old great uncle committed suicide but it seems more tragic when teens at the beginning of their life commit suicide.