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Teen suicide on the rise
Posted Oct 27, 2008 by Donna Koehn
Updated Oct 27, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Among the saddest and most difficult articles I’ve written are about suicides of young people. What could be more heartbreaking than losing a child in that way? I always admire the courage of parents willing to speak out on this issue to help others.
When I last wrote about suicides in the spring of 2006, following the death of football coach Tony Dungy’s son, James, one bit of news was encouraging—the numbers had been declining over the previous decade.
But the Journal of the American Medical Association is reporting a dramatic and sudden increase in suicides of young people, and researchers believe it’s a significant new trend.
Jeff Bridge, lead author and a principal investigator at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, goes as far as to call the increase an “indicator of an emerging public health crisis.”
The report says several factors could be responsible, including the sometimes-demoralizing influence of Internet social networks, the increases in suicides among U.S. troops, and higher rates of depression that followed the recent “black box” warnings on antidepressants. The latter might be an unintended consequence of the medication warnings required by the Federal Drug Administration Act of 2004.
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Dan Casseday) on October 27, 2008
Suicide is the elephant in America’s living room. It’s all around us, but we don’t want to recognize it’s there or talk about.
The book “Bowling Alone” illustrates how Americans have gone from a small town society with connectedness to an urban, disconnected society that technology all too often actually makes us personally and emotionally disconnected.
Adolescents perceive social failure all too easily in today’s society; military troops see horrors that at-home civilians can’t conceive. Loss of jobs for middle agers and loss of quality of life for the elderly all play a part in rising suicide numbers from youth to aged.
If you need a voice of reason, or help, please call 2-1-1 in Tampa Bay. For those dealing with the aftermath of fateful decisions, contact the premier non-profit grief counseling center in Tampa, the Life Center, at (813) 237-3114.
Posted by (JenH) on October 27, 2008
How sad! It’s hard because teens are trying so hard to be independent, but parents need to stay involved in their lives. Don’t be afaid to seek help.
Posted by (Josephine Truesdell) on November 03, 2008
Very informative but at the same time, very frightening. Parents need to be nosey. Keep watching your teenagers for any change in behavior, grades, looking and feeling depressed.