Children and teenagers, in particular, are some of the most vulnerable groups of society. The pressure that the outside world puts on teenagers through public pressure, bullying, domestic violence, exposure to substances, and mental health problems results in high numbers of suicides among youth. The problem is equally relevant across the world but is not covered enough in the media. With the development of the modern Information Society, teenage suicides present a more significant threat than before. This research paper focused on the issue of teenage suicides will include information on the current situation and analysis of valuable statistics connected to the topic. Then, the paper will provide an explanation of common reasons behind suicides among teenagers and information on current teenage suicide prevention methods and programs.
The Importance of the Issue
The modern Information Society significantly simplified the nation’s life by introducing widespread communication technologies that allow development and growth in all areas, from economy and education to politics and healthcare. Information society offers the ability to acquire information, create content, share it with others, and instantly connect with people in ways that did not exist just a decade ago. However, the digital age also carried several drawbacks with increased control over people, intrusive social media involvement in everyday life, and unavoidable negativity in the online space.
Attachment to mobile devices, mainly online-based social interactions, and exposure to outside pressure are what makes current teenagers different from teenagers a decade or two ago. While the long-term consequences of growing up in the digital age are not fully explored yet, according to reports, the specialists already connect increased social media use with anxiety and depression (Britska et al., 2021). The tendency of depression and anxiety presents a severe threat to cases of teenage suicide, which is why current teenagers and the environment in which they are growing up are different from previous generations.
All serious problems and issues in society require thorough research, coverage in the media, and governmental support to increase the population’s awareness of the matter. In the case of teenage suicides, the issue extends to providing rehabilitation and mental support to suicide attempters. Although suicide attempters constitute a separate group, cases of self-injury also provide valuable information in terms of reasoning and factors influencing the suicide outcomes, such as demographic, medication, and socioeconomic factors.
According to Wasserman et al. (2021), current programs for teenage suicide prevention are primarily centered on school activities that raise awareness through providing information about mental health and suicides and protective skill training. However, the awareness of adult groups is not covered by the programs; thus, most of the population, including current and future parents, stays uninformed about the severity of the problem with teenage suicides. Moreover, depiction and coverage of teenage suicide are prohibited in mass media except for the news reports to avoid children’s exposure to suicide. As a result, teenagers become separated from their parents’ support and often find themselves unable to talk with anyone about their issues.
Statistics Data and Valuable Information on Reasons Behind Teenage Suicides
One of the most comprehensible methods to showcase and emphasize the importance of the issue is drawing the statistics of teenage suicide rates and other valuable data related to the problem. According to the National Vital Statistics report (2020), between 2016 to 2018, the average increase in suicide death rates among persons aged from 10 to 24 years compared to 2007 to 2009 is 47.1 percent. In a number of states, including New Hampshire, Oregon, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Michigan, Washington, Massachusetts, and Kansas, the increase was more than 60 percent. The highest rate of suicides among persons aged 10-24 was in Alaska, with almost thirty-one deaths per one hundred thousand people.
While in years close to the 2000s, the suicide rates stabilized and remained close to the same level, recent data shows a drastic increase compared to the beginning of the century. Additional statistics report that from 2009 to 2017 rate of depression among teenagers aged 14 to 17 increased by more than 60 percent (Twenge et al., 2019). The numbers and increased rates help to emphasize the problem and form substantial evidence for the need to resolve the issue.
The global statistics on adolescent mental health are not much different from the statistics data in the U.S. According to World Health Organization (WHO), mental health problems compose 16% of global diseases and injuries among people aged 10 to 19 years, and the main reason is depression (WHO, 2020). As teenagers regularly experience significant amounts of stress due to pressure from peers and desire for autonomy, exposure to additional stress factors like bullying, violence, and media influence affects their mental health (WHO, 2020). According to the WHO (2020), inappropriate living conditions, limitation of opportunities, and absence or low access to support and services are equally important. Thus, in developing countries, adolescents face even more risks that could lead them to suicidal thoughts.
The addition of data from teenage suicide attempts provides valuable insight into the overall state of mental health among teenagers and factors that affect teenagers’ suicide outcomes. In an article on risk factors in suicide attempts among teenagers, Zygo et al. (2019) pointed that the group with the most tendencies for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts are 17-18 years old. The majority of teenagers who attempted suicide live in urban areas, and the leading motive is the feeling of helplessness, followed by the feeling of loneliness (Zygo et al., 2019). According to the research, teenagers raised in incomplete families are more prone to committing suicide attempts. Moreover, alcohol abuse by one parent or grandparents, domestic violence, and sexual abuse also significantly affected the number of suicide thoughts and attempts.
There are several factors that could influence suicide attempts, but specialists distinguish separate reasons for suicide outcomes. In his article Heid (2019) pointed, that specialists who work with teenagers, such as teachers and guidance counselors, suggest heavy technology use and poor mental health caused an increased number of teenage suicide cases. Other specialists explain the increase with the absence of substantial records and research on teenagers’ suicides in the past (Heid, 2019). Still, specialists agree that the issue highlights ongoing problems with mental health in modern society.
While some suicide attempts and thoughts are not included in statistics, there is no specific information about what factors could predict suicide among teenagers. However, current technologies could be used to collect every valuable piece of information and structure it to provide insight into the problem. In a research article by Walsh et al. (2018), the authors attempted to collect and analyze factors that predict suicide attempts in adolescents through machine learning. The results present 20 factors that could be utilized as predictors for suicide attempts. In a rank of decreasing importance, the authors list body mass index, age, use of different types of medications, depressions and mood disorders, self-inflicting poisoning, psychosis, posttraumatic disorder, and hyperactivity (Walsh et al., 2018). The information could be used in combination with previously mentioned factors and add depth to the research of possible reasons for teenage suicide.
Teenage Suicide Reasons and Prevention
Compiling and analyzing the results of previous researches with statistics shows that there are two prominent components of the reasoning behind teenage suicides. First, the current situation with mental disorders among teenagers is worsened by heavy technology use that creates unfavorable conditions for interactions with peers and media influence that affects their self-esteem. As in an article by Walsh et al. (2018), body mass index was one of the leading factors for suicide attempts, it connects with the negative influence imposed by media on the teenagers’ self-image. As depression is reported to be one of the most common mental health problems among adolescents, it could be that heavy technology use adds too much weight on teenagers’ mental health.
While growing up, teenagers face several challenges that could influence their mental health, such as complications in communication with peers, gaining self-awareness, and exploration of sexual identity. Unrealistic expectations forced by media influence and the process of constantly comparing themselves to other teenagers through social media become unbearable for mental health focused on other challenges.
The second prominent component of teenage suicides is the variety of environmental conditions that could not be changed or altered. In their work, Zygo et al. (2019) emphasized that teenagers who attempted suicide were mostly driven by the feeling of helplessness. The statement above leads to the suggestion that despite mental health problems and depression are the most known reasons behind teenage suicides, the cause of suicide thoughts and attempts is in teenagers’ external environment.
Studies show that among teenage girls, the ones who reported alcohol abuse by parents or siblings were most likely to attempt suicide, and most teenagers who attempted suicide were from incomplete families. It could be that parents’ influence on cases of suicide is significantly bigger in reality, but due to prevention measures, the statistics for reasons of actual suicide outcomes are different. Thus, it is suggested that overall malfunctions in relationships with parents, parents’ alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence, and inappropriate living conditions compose the second prominent reason behind teenage suicides.
The situation with an increased number of cases of teenage suicides could be improved with prevention programs and policies. As was already mentioned earlier, most prevention programs take place in educational settings and focus on teenagers and education personnel. According to Robinson et al. (2018), in general, around 70% of school-based prevention programs involving assessment of risk and protective factors and group interventions show a positive effect on suicidal thoughts and attempts among teenagers.
In addressing the family aspect of the issue, another effective prevention program recommended by King et al. (2018), the Family Check-Up, involves family participation and targets parenting skills and healthy functioning of families. As research indicated the significant influence of family in teenage suicides, future prevention programs should feature more parents’ involvement to establish healthy family connections and the possibility of dialogue.
In conclusion, this paper discussed teenage suicide and valuable aspects of the problem, like the population’s awareness of the issue and coverage in media. Compiling statistical data on teenage suicide and suicide attempts showed that the mental health problem of the current generation of teenagers is worsened by the heavy involvement of technology in teenagers’ lives. Further research and analysis indicated that a vital part of the reasoning behind teenage suicides is sourced in family and teenagers’ living conditions. As current prevention programs predominantly take place in an education setting, the issue requires active involvement from the parents’ side and raising awareness among adults.
References
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Heid, M. (2019). Depression and suicide rates are rising sharply in young Americans, new report says. This may be one reason why. Time. Web.
King, C. A., Arango, A., & Ewell Foster, C. (2018). Emerging trends in adolescent suicide prevention research. Current Opinion in Psychology, 22, 89–94. Web.
National Center for Health Statistics. (2020). State suicide rates among adolescents and young adults aged 10-24: United States, 2000-2018. Web.
Robinson, J., Calear, A. L., & Bailey, E. (2018). Suicide prevention in educational settings: A review. Australasian Psychiatry, 26(2), 132–140. Web.
Twenge, J. M., Cooper, A. B., Joiner, T. E., Duffy, M. E., & Binau, S. G. (2019). Age, period, and cohort trends in mood disorder indicators and suicide-related outcomes in a nationally representative dataset, 2005–2017. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(3), 185–199. Web.
Walsh, C.G., Ribeiro, J.D. and Franklin, J.C. (2018). Predicting suicide attempts in adolescents with longitudinal clinical data and machine learning. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(12), 1261-1270. Web.
Wasserman, D., Carli, V., Iosue, M., Javed, A., & Herrman, H. (2021). Suicide prevention in childhood and adolescence: A narrative review of current knowledge on risk and protective factors and effectiveness of interventions. Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, 13(3), 1-17. Web.
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Zygo, M., Pawłowska, B., Potembska, E., Dreher, P., Kapka-Skrzypczak, L. (2019). Prevalence and selected risk factors of suicidal ideation, suicidal tendencies and suicide attempts in young people aged 13–19 years. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine, 26(2), 329-336. Web.