Suicide in Teens in Manitoba

Suicide among Teens in Manitoba
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Suicide among Teens in Manitoba
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. With this definition, many questions arise as to why an individual would want to end their lives through suicide, more so a teenager. There are many theories developed to explain why many people commit suicide and why such actions may be concentrated within one area more than other areas. It may take the form of geographical regions or time within which suicides seem to be on the rise. This phenomenon can be explained by suicidal contagion. Suicide contagion is the exposure to suicide or suicidal behaviors within one’s family, peer or through media reports. Suicide comes as a result of suicidal ideation, suicidal concerns or thoughts about unusual preoccupation with suicide. For instance, approximately 3,500 suicides take place in Canada annually. Many of these suicides occur among the youths aged between 10 and 16 years. In Manitoba, the rate of suicide sands at 12.04 for both sexes. Among the 12-16 year olds, the suicide rate stands at a rate of 8.76 (Statistics Canada, 2013).
According to best Practices in school-based suicide prevention, the Manitoba Province has enlisted some of the reasons why teens commit suicide. These include
Bullying
Bullying makes youths to be depressed leading to suicidal thoughts. According to the research, bullying alone does not lead to suicidal thoughts. Suicidal thoughts are escalated by many other factors such as youths who are already depressed due to trauma, major family problems or social problems making them feel isolated.
Suicide Contagion
As explained earlier, suicide contagion refers to suicidal behaviors, which emanate from an incident of previous suicide committed with a region. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), youth risk behavioral studies have shown that suicide contagion is more rampant among the teenagers since they are the ones mostly affected by health issues putting them at a high risk of committing suicide (CDC, 2010).
Drug abuse
Many suicide incidences in Manitoba have been related to substance and drug abuse. Teenagers aged 12-16 have been found to indulge in drug abuse due to peer pressure or having to cope with the increasing family break ups experienced in Manitoba. Youths abusing drugs are at a high risk of committing suicide mostly when such youths may be having depression or being stressed (Healthy Child Manitoba, 2015).
Dating and relationship
Some suicide cases among the teens in Manitoba have been attributed to dating and relationships break-ups. Teens that fall victims of relationship break-up become depressed, feel isolated and feel that they are not loved. This is more rampant with teens who come from families whose relationship between mother and fat...