Teens Suicide...

[Mitzidupree]

The main reason of teenager’s suicide is depression. Teenagers suffer from runaways, alcoholism, drug problems, pregnancy (rape/unsafe sex)… Even more startling are the individual stories behind this, because the young people involved come from all communities, all economic levels, and all home situations-anyone's family. The common link is often depression. The difficult passage into adolescence and early adulthood can leave lasting scars on the lives and psyches of an entire generation of young men and women. There is growing realization that teenage depression can be life- changing, even life-threatening. Depression is a murky pool of feelings and actions. If feelings of great sadness or agitation last for much more than two weeks, it may be depression. For a long time, people who were feeling depressed were told to snap out of it. Depression as a personal weakness or character flaw. Depression, however, is considered a medical disorder and can affect thoughts, feelings, physical health, and behaviors. It interferes with daily life such as school, friends, and family. Clinical depression is the most incapacitating of all chronic conditions in terms of social functioning. Teenagers have always been vulnerable to depression for a variety of reasons. It's a confusing time of life because a teen's body is changing along with their relationships. Teenagers constantly vacillate between strivings for independence from family and regressions to childish dependence on it.

But today's teens face an additional challenge: They're growing up in a world quite different from that of our parent's youth. Adolescents today are faced with stresses that were unknown to previous generations and are dealing with them in an often self-destructive way. Contemporary society has changed the perception of teenagers. New parental lifestyles, combined with changes in the economy, often give less time and energy for parents to devote to their offspring. Society all too often views teens for what they can be instead of for who they are. Who they are becomes the identity of teenagers today. They are confronted with the ambiguity of education, the dissolution of family, the hostile commercialism of society, and the insecurity of relationships.

This identity is fragile and is threatened by fears of rejection, feelings of failure, and of being different. These young people face stress in school as well with resources dwindling and campus violence and harassment increasing. Their sexual awakening comes in the age of AIDS, when sex can kill. In summary, teens today feel less safe, less empowered and less hopeful. Depression is a common concomitant to this struggle. Depression is the result of a complex mix of social, psychological, physical, and environmental factors. Some type of significant loss can be a factor in triggering teenage depression. Loss can be due to death, divorce, separation, or loss of a family member, important friend or romantic interest. Loss can also be more subtle such as the loss of childhood, of a familiar way of being, of goals through achievement, or of boundaries and guidelines. Gender differences are becoming apparent, with girls having more difficulty with depression. The reasons for depression are not always clear-cut. Although some depressed, even suicidal teenagers come from extremely troubled backgrounds with a lifetime of difficulties at home and at school, the vast majority of depressed teens are not without resources, support, or love. They simply find, for a variety of reasons, that they're feeling overwhelmed by a sensation of hopelessness and helplessness. It is imperative to realize that depression can happen to teenagers, even those who have everything going for them. It can happen to the best and brightest of young people. It’s hard to detect depression in teens because it's a developmental stage characterized by considerable anger and withdrawal. Adolescents don't necessarily look sad and depressed and its normal for teens to have mood swings but within limits. A depressed teen may cry for help indirectly through troublesome, even destructive behavior and through physical symptoms. For a teenager to admit that he/she needs help feels like regressing back to childhood. To be a teen means to externalize feelings and deal with the world through action. It's common for people with depressive disorders to complain about recurring headaches, backaches, chronic fatigue, and insomnia. Being sick can be a binding thing that keeps the teenager tied to parents, if the illness is the only time the teen receives attention and love from their parents. Physical ills are often viewed with more importance than emotional pain by parents, teachers, or even the teens themselves. It's much easier for adolescents to ask for medical care than for psychological help. Many teens run away from home every year, they are neither adventurous nor rebellious adolescents, but teens tested and troubled by life's circumstances. They often feel things are hopeless and that their parents would never understand. Drug use is on the rise among teens, also many teens have had adverse experiences caused by excessive drinking. Depressed teens are at particularly high risk for drug and alcohol abuse. Abuse of drugs, alcohol, or other substances are often used to assuage depression. Depressed patients were given treatment, alcohol and drug intake diminished as well. There is more sexual activity among teenagers today than at any other time in our history. Sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers have reached epidemic proportions. Sexual acting-out, which can not only be life-changing, but also life-threatening in this age of AIDS, can become an antidote to the loneliness and isolation many teenagers feel. Sexual activity is often used as an attempt to deal with feelings of depression, to increase self-esteem by feeling wanted and to achieve intimacy. The illusion of unconditional love, coupled with a lack of insight into the unrelenting demands that the complete dependence of an infant brings leads a number of girls to seek pregnancy. Some teens see parenthood as a way to recapture the joy of childhood they are losing, a way to be loved and important to someone else, or as an antidote to depression.

Adolescents are particularly at risk for suicide attempts because they progress through a variety of rapid developmental stages. The seriously depressed teen may often have a sense of hopelessness. Many teens are too immobilized by depression to see any alternatives or to take any positive steps toward change. All too often depressed teenagers don't have the experience to know that time heals, that there is always hope. They don't realize that they can survive a crisis and perhaps even learn from it. Life is often seen in absolutes which intensifies any crisis. The destructive potential of serious teenage depression can have many long-lasting aftereffects. Having and keeping a baby, getting into trouble with the law, sustaining a serious injury as the result of risk-taking behavior or stunting one's emotional growth by anesthetizing painful feelings with drugs or alcohol can have a great impact on one's future. It can prevent a young adult from having a full, healthy, and productive life or make it considerably more difficult to do so. Depression is a growing problem amongst today's teenagers. Depression brings with it many problems that can be self-destructive. If a teenager has the benefit of early intervention and help in coping with his/her depression, however, the life script can be quite different…