Teenage Suicide Summary Essay

Teenage Suicide
Teenage Suicide
Suicide is among the leading causes of death to children, adolescents and teenagers in the world. In particular, suicide among teenagers in school can be attributed to many factors, including self-esteem and self-doubt issues, overwhelming pressure to excel in school, disappointment and grief caused by the loss of a loved one. Suicidal feelings may also be linked to certain mental health disorders, for example, depression.
Diagnosis of these disorders is a critical step in treating the diseases. For example, hotlines have been put in place, which provides immediate help to provide direct assistance and emotional support for people who are struggling with recurring suicidal thoughts and feelings. These hotlines and support services are run mainly by volunteers and encourage those dealing with depressive and suicidal feelings to call and confidentially share their stories to prevent cases of suicide. Additionally, suicidal people are encouraged to seek professional help, for example, mental health practitioners who work with the patients to identify specific strategies tailored to the individual to help them deal with their situations. These people are also encouraged to reach out to close friends and respective family members, church ministers, teachers and people of authority in their communities. This paper will review past studies and statistics on suicide, analyze the risk factors that increase the chances of a suicide occurring, provide an overview of the best practices that are in place to combat the problem, and identify research and knowledge gaps in the field, proposing the studies and research methods that should be implemented.
Prevention Science
While the importance of these remedial solutions to address the problem of teenage suicide in the community cannot be overstated, scientists have emphasized the efficiency of using preventative measures as a means of tackling these issues. Prevention science is the scientific process of moderating a particular human dysfunction before it occurs. This process aims to address the potential factors, also called risk factors, that predispose an individual to specific dysfunctions rather than addressing the problem once it has already occurred (Vera, 2013). Apart from stopping an event from happening, the definition of prevention has been broadened to include; delaying the occurrence of an event, reducing the effect of a problem, creating awareness and reinforcing knowledge on the behaviours that lead to physical, emotional and mental well-being, and furthering governmental and institutional policies that enhance physical, emotional and mental well-being (Romano & Hage, 2000). According to Cumming (1968), two main strategies are involved in preventing mental health issues: one being the research about what causes the mental health problem and the methods to eliminate it. The second strategy is to distinguish populations immune to these mental health problems and subsequently shape different populations to match the ideal one.
Past Studies and Vital Statistics
Numerous studies have been undertaken to determine the causes of suicide and hypothesize probable preventative measures that should be followed to reduce teenage deaths by suici...