Why has teen suicide rate shot up 18% this past year?

Question

People live for their identities. If families aren't close or friends keep disappearing, there's nothing you can really enjoy out of life because you're alone.

Answer 1

Unless you have experience with suicide or attempted suicide you could not possible understand what is going through a person's mind at that particular moment.
And to the person who said none of her friends or family are crazy enough to kill themselves, you never know what a person is thinking when they're alone.
And as for the rate being up 18%, there could be different reasons for it. Our population is much greater, families aren't close & parents don't see the signs.

Answer 2

I think this is a 2 part answer. As a parent of a teenager, I can see the moods she has has, the struggles with the issues at school and peers, but she knows that her dad and I are always there for her. My husband and I have made a consious decision to be sheltering with our girls. We limit what's on TV, we don't allow MTV, or movies with ratings over G or PG, and we know most of their friends. We have the girls in sports and after school acitivies. I am involved at the school level, and in contact with all their teachers. We talk about media influence and what is real and what is fake. In a nutshell, we are available and they know it.
I think this is missing in our society. Kids are having sex and not aware of the consquences; parents are divorcing and raising children by them selves. The moral fiber of our North American society is sorely lacking in involvement. Children are left to fend for themselves, and this is wrong. Parents are caving into ' I need to be a friend to my child' or 'I can't set up boundaries because it isn't fair' This is crap! Be involved with your children. Make decisions for them. They need guidance and stucture, and it should come from YOU.
Onto the suicide part. I think that if all the areas above were followed then suicide would be lower. Why would children think there is nothing to live for if they had the love and support from their families? If they had someone at home who could talk with them, make them feel important, support them in their teenage decisions, then they wouldn't look at suicide. I think I would be more intune with what was going on in her life, and if it looked like a deprssion issue, or a mental illness, then I would get her help. But I am there for her; I see her at the dinner table, I help her with her homework, I drive her to her activities. We talk all the time.
I must say that we are probabley not the most popular parents, as we have some rules at our house, but having children is a BIG responsibility, and we took it seriously.

Answer 3

It was on CNN about the suicide rate going up. They mentioned it may be doctors reluctance to try antidepressants but they really have no idea. It coincides with rising incidents of violent crimes committed by teens. I think this country as a whole treats our young people poorly and as second class citizens. In many countries they accept young people as human beings and have less crime, suicides, pregnancies, drug use etc. and they are surpassing us academically.

Answer 4

because more and more teens are put on anti-depression medicines instead of just realizing that life is hard and things go wrong, so pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again. just because you're depressed this week (which is normal) doesn't mean you'll be depressed next week. while you are depressed, exercise, walk, phone friends, paint, write, create, dance, sing, act, join a cause, discover God. we are a society that only wants the icing and not the work involved in making the cake.

Answer 5

Because, no offense, but i think that the parenting level is rising to meet the new issues that people are exposed to each day. I'm not talking about, not disciplining kids enough, although a lot of friends need to meet the belt, I'm talking about how parents react to what their children see and hear at school, on TV, or on out in town.

Answer 6

i think the suicide rate has shot up because people's family's are divorcing and forcing the children to choose between the father and mother. The teen influnce to use drugs is also rising in how easy it is to get crack and stuff.

Answer 7

i am from Hungary, and for many years my country was the world leader in the number of suicide facts.
at present we are still in the top 5 i think.
we are a "gloomy nation" as they say, we are the country of the "Suicide song" (you know, the "Gloomy sunday")...

but who knows why?

i created a website for the memory of a girl who committed suicide at the age of 17, in 1986, and nobody knows why, we can just guess what happened... society, family, etc...
the main problem is that before committing suicide, she talked about death many times - but nobody listened to her.

maybe this is the main problem - we do not take care of each other. we are always in a hurry, parents do not take enough care of their children.

Answer 8

Teen suicide rate has shot up cause people like me have nothing left to live for and are deeply depressed. People kill themselves for different reasons like; being made fun of at school, having no one there for them, losing the love of there life, ext...
People dont have to be crazy to commit suicide they just have to be unhappy.

Answer 9

You are not alone, When all else fails (and it's too bad that people have to wait until all else fails) but you still have God. The bible says "When my mother and my father has forsaken me then the Lord will take me up". You belong to God and that is where your identity lies.

Answer 10

This is also the trend in Europe, where I live, I believe it is something got to do with family life. We are getting adult too early by leaving home at a young age.