Depression, anxiety, and social comparison can cause teens to lose hope during their adolescent years. Couple that with the presence, prevalence, and promotion of suicide as a valid alternative to life and the result is a tragic pandemic of teen suicide. In this article, I’ll warn parents about the real and present threat of teen suicide.
Presence
There are several factors may put teens at risk, including: pressure to perform, substance abuse, loss of close connections, and poor family relationships. Your teen doesn’t have years of life experience to help them see down the road how things will change and get better so unresolved conflict can lead an impulsive teen to seek relief, and suicide is too often presented like a way to solve the problem. It’s important for parents to look for these risk factors in your teen and take action to get help if you suspect your teen is thinking about suicide.
For many teens, their adolescent years aren’t the happy-go-lucky time you may recall from your past. There are intense pressures on teens to perform academically, athletically, and socially. These pressures can push some teens to thoughts of suicide if they believe they can’t measure up. Some teens will self-medicate with drugs and alcohol to release pressure and avoid pain, but these choices add new problems to teens who are already struggling.
Too often, parents fail to recognize their teen’s pain associated with loss, especially if the loss seems insignificant. But for your teen, making connections is crucial and it’s a challenge made harder by social media—which tricks teens into thinking they have relationships, when in reality these connections are shallow and short-lived. Even teens who appear to have lots of “friends,” can feel disconnected. For teens who change residency frequently, it’s especially hard to fit in. The process of attaching and detaching over and over again can put some teens at risk.
Deep down every teen longs for a relationship with their family, even if they don’t act like they care at all. Separation, divorce, loss, or other family problems add stress at home. When things are chaotic, troubled, or disconnected, some teens will seek an escape from the pain. Even when parents are doing their best to make things better and move forward, teens may struggle with how to cope.
Prevalence
By all measures, suicide in teens has increased in recent decades. In 2017, The Journal of the American Medical Association reported 47% more suicides among teens aged 15 to 19 compared to the year 2000. Suicide ranks as the second leading cause of death for this age group, behind accidents. Although the overwhelming majority of suicides are committed by males, suicide in teenaged girls has also increased. All these statistics point to a troubling trend of teenaged hopelessness and pain.
Knowing that suicide in on the rise should put parents on alert. Look for dramatic changes in your teen’s behavior, such as changes in sleep, social relationships, substance abuse, or the use of social media that might suggest that something is going on. The best way to recognize these changes is by making regular times, every week, to connect with your teen. As you spend time together, listening and observing your teen, you may recognize changes that could signal that your teen needs help.
Promotion
Ask your teen if he knows someone who has taken their life. Most teens do. Even if your teen doesn’t personally know someone, there are lots of people taking about suicide online. The “promotion” of suicide as a viable option happens inadvertently and even purposely in teen culture. Having ready online access to information about people who have committed suicide can cause some teens to consider suicide as a way out of their own problems.
When teens hear about notable people taking their lives, they see these people get the attention and sympathy that some teens desperately crave. They see this person as being out of pain and they compare themselves with the people they see online. So when someone they know personally or through social media takes their life, your teen may compare their life and their problems to that person and starting thinking about suicide. Most teens already know how they would commit suicide! If your teen talks about suicide, posts about suicide online, or is searching questions about suicide and death, you need to get help right away!
Conclusion
Hey moms and dads … I know 45 teens who have taken their lives and no one saw it coming in any one of these tragedies. The presence, prevalence, and sometimes promotion of suicide gives permission teens to believe that taking their life is a viable solution to the struggles they are facing in their lives. Here are the key takeaways. First, your teen is capable of taking his life. Second, you have to be aware of what your teen is thinking and feeling. Third, if your teen is struggling, or even you think they’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, you need to get help. Call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Please take me seriously when I say get help! If you ever suspect or hear that your is child thinking about suicide, your actions can save the life of your teen.