Depression and Suicide
Depression is a hard thing to get out of. Your brain needs enough serotonin levels to and if these fall you get depressed. You need help; doctor, therapy, or family counseling will all do. These teens have to get the help they need. Becoming violent or crazy could result from not getting the help they need. There are more then 2 million teens that suffer from depression. Many things cause the stress that causes the depression. These include:
1. A death of a family member or close friend.
2. An assault, car accident or painful physical,
mental, or emotional event.
3. Marriage breakup, or love lost suddenly.
4. Constant physical, mental, or emotional
pain that goes on for a length of time.
5. Major Financial setback.
6. Something "embarrassing" happens.
7. Failing an important exam a school.
8. A best friend moves out of town.
It is not proven yet, but it is thought that depression could run in families.
Checklist
1. You feel sad or cry a lot and the feelings don't go away.
2. You feel guilty for no real reason; you feel as if you're not good; you've lost your confidence.
3. Life seems meaningless, or you feel like nothing good is ever going ot happen again.
4. You don't feel like doing a lot of the things you used to enjoy and you want to be left alone most of the time.
5. It's hard to make up your mind. You forget lots of things and find it difficult to concentrate.
6. You get irritated often. Little things make you lose your temper; you overreact.
7. Your sleep patterns change.
8. Your eating habits change
9. You feel restless/tired most of the time.
10. You think about death, or have thoughts about committing suicide.
Depression often spurs suicide. There was an attempted suicide rate of 20% among those with major depression.
Depression is more likely in women then men. 60% of suicides are caused by depression
There are two ways to treat depression. They are medication and psychotherapy
Suicide and depression is a major problem in teen life. Suicide is now the third-leading killer of teens in the United States. You wonder what depression and suicide is. Depression is "a mental condition of gloom or sadness; dejection". Suicide is the act of taking one's own life. There is a serious connection between the two, depression may lead to suicide, and your life should be taken seriously.
Depression and suicide thoughts impact teenagers lives by keeping them sad, with feelings of hopelessness, and a lot of other things relating to these. While having these feelings, it affects their social and educational lives- which a person needs to survive.
Possible solutions are: gaining interest in social activities, taking the time to think and concentrate patiently, and have self confidence in what you're good at; don't dwell on what you're not good at but try to improve on them. Depression is not healthy at all and suicide is not the solution to absolutely any problem so if you are feeling depressed or thinking about committing suicide call the following for help or just to have a friendly conversation:
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Research has shown that persons who commit suicide almost always are suffering from a mental or substance abuse disorder. For adults depression; substance abuse; and separation, divorce or loss of a spouse are common risk factors. For adolescents, for whom suicide is the third leading cause of death, risk factors include: depression, substance abuse; and aggressive or disruptive behavior. Risk that an individual will commit suicide can be reduced by treating the underlying mental or substance abuse disorder.
All threats to commit suicide should be taken seriously. Even if you do not believe that a friend or family member will commit suicide, their threat is a call for help. Do not leave them alone and seek help immediately from a mental health professional. Your friend or family member will benefit from your actions.
If you are considering suicide, help is available to get you through your crisis. Seek help now. Help is as close as the telephone. Call your local crisis line or 911 service or go to the emergency room at a hospital in your community.
Did you know that women are more likely to attempt suicide than men? Men are more likely to complete the suicide act. I've researched about the survivors of suicide and I didn't find much on it at the library or on the internet, so I used another source: my self, my friends and my family.
* Suicide was the 8th leading cause of death in the United States.
* The total number of suicide deaths was 30,535
* The highest suicide rates were for white men over 85, who had a rate of 65/100,000.
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WARNING SIGNS
The person actually talks about suicide.
The person talks about feeling hopeless and/or worthless.
The person gives away important possessions.
The person seems to be getting his/her affairs in order.
The person seems preoccupied with death.
The person no longer shows an interest in favorite things or activities.
Although the person has seemed sad, suddenly he/she is calm and happy.
The person is reckless, endangering his/her life and/or those of others.
The person is abusing drugs and/or alcohol.
The person has suffered a recent loss: employement, death, divorce, money, status, relationship, etc.
The person suffers from symptoms of depression.
Its estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves every year, and about 5000 succeed
Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in Such a way that the afflicted tends to act
and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that
adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more
deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Despite this increased suicide rate,
depression in this age group is greatly under diagnosed and leads to serious difficulties In school, work
and personal adjustment, which may continue into adulthood.
Brown [1996] has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is
because “children are not always able to express how they feel.” Sometimes the symptoms of mood
disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil,
mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation.
It is observed that the “challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed
on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm.”
The signs of clinical depression include marked changes in mood and associated behaviors that
range from sadness, withdraw, and decreased energy to intense feelings of hopelessness and suicidal
thoughts. Depression is often described as “an exaggeration of the duration and intensity of normal
mood changes” For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self–esteem
stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor
family relations, which could include decreased family support and perceived rejection, parents stated
that “when parents are struggling over martial or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel
the tension and try to distract their parents. “This “distraction” could include increased disruptive
behavior, self – inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide. So how can the physician determine
when a patient should be diagnosed as depression or suicidal?
It was in the 1980’s that mood disorders in children were Included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses.
7-14% of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of 15. An average of 20-30% of adult bipolar patients report having their first episode before the age of 20.
In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which 8-10 will commit suicide.
Suicide rate for adolescents had increased more than 200% over the last decade. Estimated 2,000 teenagers per year commit suicide in the United States, making it the leading cause of death after accidents and homicide.
Once it has been determined that the adolescent has the disease of depression, what can be done
about it? Two main avenues to treatment “psychotherapy and medication.” The majority of the cases of
adolescent depression is mild and can be handled though several sessions with intense listening, advice
and encouragement. For the more severe cases of depression, especially those with constant symptoms,
Medication may be necessary and without pharmaceutical treatment, depressive conditions could escalate
and become fatal.
