Teen Suicide

The teenage years are often a time of turmoil, which includes frequent mood swings and sadness.  Depression is common and can be serious when prolonged.  People with depression have a higher risk of suicide, but with intervention and treatment, most will get better. 

Symptoms of a Suicidal Teen
 

Facts about Suicide

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers

• Depression and the risk for suicide may have biological (altered levels of some brain chemicals) as well as psychological links.  A family history of suicide is a significant risk factor

• Among college students, suicide is the second leading cause of death

• Males succeed in committing suicide four times more frequently than females, but young women attempt suicide four to eight times more frequently

• Most people who commit suicide have given some warning of their intent

• Suicide rates among youth have tripled in the last 30 years

• Alcohol or drug abuse play a major role in suicide

Helping a Suicidal Teen

Most depressed or suicidal people feel worthless and have little hope.  They deny their emotions or won’t talk about them because they don’t want to “burden” others.  If you think someone is depressed or suicidal, take it seriously and take time to talk about it.

• Reassure them and encourage them to get help

• Don’t lecture

General Information Reading

Cohen, Susan & Daniel.  Teenage Stress.

Elkind, David.  The Hurried Child.

Gordon, Sol.  When Living Hurts.

Hewett, J.G.  After Suicide.  (Consoling book for suicide survivors).

Hyde, Margaret O. and Elizabeth H. Forsythe.  Suicide: The Hidden Epidemic.

Klagsbrun, Francince.  Too Young to Die: Youth and Suicide.  (Good overview.  Best on teenage suicide.)

Fiction for Youth

Arrick, Fran.  Tunnel Vision.  Bradbury, 1980.  A fifteen-year-old boy hangs himself, leaving family and friends pondering the reasons and their guilt.

Cleaver, Vera.  Grover.  Lippincott, 1970.  Story of an eleven-year-old boy’s confusion when his sick mother commits suicide and his father withdraws in his grief.

Eyerly, Jeanette.  Girl Inside.  Lippincott, 1968.  Reacting to the death of her parents, a young girl attempts suicide.  Through helping a suicidal friend, she learns to live for others also and decides to get help.

Guest, Judith.  Ordinary People.  Viking, 1976.  Seventeen-year-old Conrad, home from a mental institution after a suicide attempt, learns that openly shared love will give him and his parents the  strength they need.

Johnson, A.E.  A Blues I Can Whistle.  Four Winds, 1969.  A first person narrative of a young adult who attempts suicide.

L’Engle, Madeleine.  Camilla.  Thomas Y. Crowell, 1951.  Following her mother’s suicide attempt, Camilla hates her parents when she realizes they are not perfect, but eventually develops strength to cope.

Mazer, Norma.  A Figure of Speech.  Delacorte, 1973.  Lack of communication among her parents, her grandfather, and Jenny leads to unhappy circumstances preceding the grandfather’s death.

Terris, Susan.  Drowning Boy.  Doubleday, 1972.  Driven to the brink of suicide by an unsympathetic father and an ineffectual mother, a boy finally accepts help from his father and rejects suicide.

Wersba, Barbara.  The Dream Watcher.  Atheneum, 1968.  A friendless boy who considers himself a misfit considers suicide until he is rescued by an eighty-year-old eccentric woman who befriends him.