Ta’Chelle Morris
Dr.Gold
12/8/2011 Final Research Paper: Teen Suicide
Introduction
One of the most difficult times you will have in your life is being a teenager. Becoming a teenager comes with so many responsibilities because you are no longer considered a child. There is the stress to be liked, and to do well in school. You are starting to develop differences with your parents and the separation with them is beginning to increase. The world is changing around you and you are beginning to become curious. Sometimes this curiosity can be positive, but if not careful at other times it can be detrimental to your teenage years and your future. Also during this stage of life, teenagers are dealing with identity issues. Everyone wants to fit in and is trying to find their little niche. Teenage years are the time that people have the best experiences and the worst. On most occasions, teenagers move through this phase with only a few struggles and reach adulthood. Others are not so lucky and their life ends before they can reach the age of 21. Teen suicide is the third most common cause of death amongst adolescents. Teenagers are especially vulnerable to the threat of suicide, because in addition to the stress they have from school, they are dealing with the hormonal fluctuations that can complicate even the most simplistic situations. Teen suicide has been not only increased in the United States, but around the world as well. In recent years, suicide has increased at an alarming rate even amongst Native Americans and African-American teenagers. According to a study done by the National Institute of Mental Health the risk factors that lead to suicide include depression and other mental disorders. There have been many explanations to the sudden increase over the past 10 years in teen suicide. Many doctors attribute it to biological reasons and that stress from that a teenager experiences in their environment can trigger different neurotransmitters and the teenager develops depression. Other reasons have been attributed to family and the new growing epidemic of bullying. This increase is not only sad, but reflective upon how the society is changing. What has been pushing these teenagers to have such terrible lives that they have to take their own life. What are the reasons for the increase in teen suicide?
Research
One reason for the increase in teen suicide is depression. Depression is a condition of mental disturbance, typically with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life. Depression in adolescents is very unusual and doctors are still trying to find common reasons of why there has been an increase in depression rates. Depression increases the risk of a teenager committing suicide. Depression is usually the last stage that the teenager experiences in result to a tragic event, divorce, or bullying that causes them to want to kill themselves. Biological reasons for depression are neurotransmitters and neurons. People with lower levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine are more likely to have depression. Depression has been directly related to the neurotransmitters of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. There have been several studies explaining why depression has increased amongst the adolescent population and why this connects to teen suicide. One study relating to teen depression was done by Brown University in 2002. This study focused on parents who did not recognize the symptoms of teen depression which furthermore left the depressed child untreated. One reason to the rise to depression in teens, is the fact that parents are unaware or do not acknowledge the symptoms. The study consisted of 100 parents who were observed while communicating with their depressed children. The different groups were parents of diagnosed depressed children and ones who were developing symptoms that were witnessed by their school. After observing the conversations between the