Overview of The Main Causes of Teenage Suicide

As the years progress, an abundance of minors dies in the United States, these days not by some type of cancer, auto accidents, and different viruses, but by using their own hands. Teenagers are now consciously making decisions to end their own lives. Suicide is 1/3 of the leading cause of death amongst teens from age 15 to 25 years of age. It is estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves during the course of a whole year. Being a suicidal teenager comes with package of typically feeling that their feelings are played down, not taken seriously, or met with opposition by means of other people, however in majority cases it must always be taken seriously. Most recent survey performed by the CDC (center of disease control and prevention) found that 16% of students reposted seriously considering suicide, 13% reported creating a plan and 8% reported tying to take their own life in the last 12 months preceding the survey. Although the motives following a teen's suicide or tried suicide are often complex, some of the causes of teenage suicide are analyzed in this essay.

The rate of deaths increases more and more as the years go by. ‘In 2017 there were 5,821 suicides registered in the UK, a rate of 10.1 deaths per 100,000’. What causes so many people to do such an awful thing? Not a lot of adults can understand why teenagers commit suicide. Obviously, nobody can really understand why anybody would take their own life, because it’s such a drastic thing to do. Most adults consider their teenage years the happiest years of their lives, where they were ‘free’, but a lot of teenagers nowadays suffer from more pain than we realise, whether it be mental health, bullying, or physical pain. There are a lot of emotional reasons why teenagers take their lives, for example, sometimes they feel like they are in a situation that has no way to be solved, or there’s no way out. Other reasons are when they are trying to get away from things such as rejection, pain, loss or the feeling of being unloved. There can also be things such as their fear of disappointing people or of being a burden.

One thing all suicidal people have in common is depression. Depression is a condition of mental disturbance, typically with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining attention or interest in life. Depression in teenagers is very uncommon for normal teenagers. It’s supposed to be a prime of their lives. Meanwhile medical practitioners are nevertheless attempting to find out why there has been such a rise in the depression rate. Depression has been found to increase the chance of a committing suicide. Regarding Medical reasons for depression, they are based upon neurotransmitters and neurons. Those that have lower ranges of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine are at a greater chance at having depression. Depression has a link associated to the neurotransmitters of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Recent studies are explaining why depression has accelerated between the teenage population and how this directly connects to teen suicide.

Another reason for commiting suicide is social isolation. More and more adolescents have their faces in their phones. They are so focused on their screens they become isolated from their peers and family. This issue makes it hard for them to express that they are having difficulties coping with the new emotional and physical changes they are experiencing.

Additionally, there are also environmental causes to teen suicide. If a child is having a tough time at home, then they might fear the situation surrounding them and try to escape through the only thing they see as a solution. What really needs to be noted is that most teens don’t commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide because of a desire to die, they do it to try and escape a bad/painful situation. Also, hardly ever is it just one reason that a child takes their life, it is a sum of multiple feelings, experiences and situations. The National Crime Prevention Council conducted a survey in 2006 where they found out 43% of the kids surveyed had been cyberbullied within a years’ time. Bullying or cyberbullying can cause a teen to commit a suicide. There is even a new term expressing this - bullycide. Bullycide is the act of being bullied to the point where one kills himself/herself.

The final leading cause of suicide among adolescents is alcohol and drug use. Substance abuse during adolescence can affect their academic performance, relationships, and physical and mental health. Several studies have shown that adolescents that abuse substance is at a greater risk of committing suicide. Substance abuse does not discriminate between gender. However, how an adolescent uses the substance can lead to a higher risk of suicide. For instance, if a depressed adolescent uses drugs, they are at a greater risk of thinking or committing suicide.

To conclude, some of the major reasons why teenagers commit suicides are depression, social isolation, bullyiing, and alcohol and drug use.