The hardest part of every person’s life is adolescence. In this age period, the formation of personality, the rethinking of value orientations. In addition, hormonal changes occur due to active sexual development. Hormonal imbalance is the cause of frequent mood swings, attacks of aggression or depression. Therefore, teenage suicide is so common , the causes of which can be very diverse.
Which teens are suicidal
Suicide, or suicide, is a deliberate, deliberate deprivation of life. For some life circumstances, some adolescents are at risk for suicide. The causes of suicide in adolescence can be very diverse. Some young people are prone to constant depressive states, others abuse alcohol, others have narcotic and toxic addictions. Many faced the death or suicide of a loved one, had a bad relationship with their peers and parents. That is why teenage suicide occurs. The causes and factors provoking it lie in the psychological state of children.
Suicidal syndrome
Adolescents at risk at any time can cause harm and take their own lives under pressure from circumstances. These people are very impressionable, vulnerable, they have a sense of inferiority and low self-esteem. At the age of 13-17, the milestone comes when suicide is widespread among adolescents. The causes of this phenomenon are studied by many psychologists.
A few decades ago, the world community was shocked by the suicides committed by Marilyn Monroe and Ernest Hemingway. Around these events intrigues laced and gossip went. The world also learned about the mass suicide of sectarians from the Davydov branch in 1993. At least 160,000 people commit suicide every year in the world. Teen suicide was not an exception, the psychological characteristics and causes of which are being studied to this day.
Most often, suicidal tendencies appear due to textbook problems in the life of young people: stress, depression, emotional instability, incorrect perception of life. Experts point out that suicides among adolescents are associated precisely with the depressive state, which affects more than 80% of young people. But suicide of teenage children also happens, the reasons for which lie in alcohol and drug addiction, severe mental disorder, imitation.
Categories of suicidal people
Professor Schneidman deduced 4 main categories of people who seek to settle accounts with life independently:
- Seeker of death in an attempt to harm himself, he is trying in every possible way to bring matters to the lethal end. But such zeal does not last long. Then a person begins to torment doubts, he tries to rethink everything, but thoughts of suicide do not leave him.
- The initiator of death - also wants to die. He is sure that he will suffer a terrible fate, and is trying only to speed up the process. This manic feeling occurs more often in older people, but teenage suicide also happens. The causes of this phenomenon lie in the subconscious.
- The denier of death does not believe that death is the end. He naively believes that killing oneself is an exchange operation in which the current situation is replaced by something new and happy. These are the main causes of suicide in adolescents who believe in the afterlife.
- Player with death. He is tormented by contradictions regarding the possibility of passing away in one way or another. Even during the suicide of a person, doubts torment him. The methods chosen for death may not allow you to finish the job, but only cause harm to health. An example is the game "Russian Roulette" with a revolver, the rules of which are that there is only one cartridge in the drum, which will either shoot or not.
Suicide and its forms
There are three main forms of suicide.
- True - when a teenager is sure that he wants his own death. This form of suicide is characteristic of young men. A failed attempt results in a repetition.
- Sensitive - when a young man or girl tries to take their own life with emotions. If suicide fails, then it usually does not recur. This is most often affected by girls.
- Demonstrative - serves only as a means of attracting public attention. Attempts can be repeated again and again, and never before comes suicide itself (with the exception of chance).
Causes of Teenage Suicides
The causes of suicide in adolescents often lie in rejected love, domestic scandals, misunderstanding by peers, or simply loneliness.
In addition, modern media in every possible way provoke young people to such a desperate step by showing suicide cases of strangers, stars. There is no exception to the World Wide Web, which demonstrates online recordings of this topic and projects.
The suicide of adolescents has its own distinctive features. The reasons are that children often do not believe in their own death. For example, only 10% of 100 want to commit suicide, the rest are only trying to attract the attention of relatives, friends, loved ones. In this case, there is a demonstrative form of suicide, or, one might say, "suicidal blackmail." But, unfortunately, such a game with death can be fatal even by accident.
Pre-suicidal behavior
True suicidal tendencies ripen within young people and may not betray themselves. If you pay attention, you can notice small changes in the behavior of a teenager thinking about suicide. They are hardly noticeable, especially if a boy or girl is prone to loneliness. You can determine suicidal behavior by the isolation of a teenager, by phrases that are accidentally broken out. If the child does not want to discuss such a topic, then this should serve as a signal for the parents.
With affective and demonstrative forms of suicide, adolescents try to draw the attention of others to their problem. Boys and girls subconsciously convince others that they want outside intervention. They hope to be stopped.
Inner preparedness for suicide can cause loss of appetite: a teenager does not eat anything, despite his previously good appetite. The same thing happens with sleep: an active child is tormented by weakness, and a languid one, on the contrary, loses sleep.
In addition, school performance is creeping down, teachers often complain about inattention. In this case, if the teacher notices problems, then he calls the parents to the parent meeting. Teenage suicide, causes and prevention of this phenomenon are often discussed together with parents and a psychologist.
Is suicide preventable in a teenager?
It is necessary, first of all, to know all the experiences and feelings of the child. You should not let any changes in the child’s behavior to chance. It is necessary to call him for frankness. Each child needs the sympathy and support of loved ones.
Life obstacles are those cases that a child must overcome with his parents. Teenagers must understand that others and their parents love them for who they are, understand and support them.
Suicide Myths
If we talk about suicide from the point of view of psychology, then it is worth noting certain myths or misconceptions regarding this phenomenon.
- It is impossible to prevent suicide, but in a crisis period of life you can give a person warmth, care, attention, and then, perhaps, the idea of suicide will disappear.
- There is a certain type of people who are suicidal by nature. Here we can talk not only about the situation, but also about its assessment by a person.
- There are no definite signs indicating the causes of suicide. Usually suicide is recognized due to the unusual behavior of a teenager.
- A teenager may mention suicide, but adults often take this as a joke. As a result, later it becomes clear that the child himself pointed out the possible consequences.
- Suicidal decisions come suddenly without preparation. Research has shown that the crisis period associated with potential suicide can last from 2 weeks to several months.
- A failed suicide will not happen again. This is the biggest misconception. If a teenager decided on such a desperate step, then the risk of resuming the attempt is high. Perhaps a repeat is expected in the next 2 months.
- Hereditary attraction to suicide. No one has ever proved this claim.
- The suicide rate will drop significantly due to the influence of the media and the Internet. But the media should not advertise the fact of suicide, but the situations by which it can be prevented.
- Alcohol is a means of drowning out inner experiences. It is proved that the effect of alcohol can be the opposite: aggravation of conflicts occurs, anxiety increases. More than half of suicides occurred while intoxicated.
Characteristics of pre-suicidal actions
The pre-suicidal state of a teenager can be characterized by the following features:
- There are sharp jumps in the mood of the child: he begins to conflict with friends and relatives.
- The teenager is prone to excessive dramatization of conflicts.
- From the point of view of a child, suicide is something decisive and fearless.
- The behavior is demonstrative in nature, something like a "game of the public."
- The behavior of a teenager is an affect, that is, his actions are not thought out and inaccurate.
- Inept choice of means for suicide: a low floor for a jump, non-toxic substances for poisoning or a thin rope.
Psychological background
Recently, specialists began to study the causes of suicide in adolescents. Psychology is the science that helps to understand all aspects of this issue. It is only clear that adolescents commit the majority of suicides while they are in their right mind. But many believe that only a mentally disabled child is capable of such a desperate step. Alas, this is not so.
It's all about the reasons, because adolescents who are in the puberty are sure that they are not loved, do not understand and do not appreciate. These personal experiences lead to suicide.
At the age of 13-16, it is difficult for boys and girls to cope with the "cart" of adult problems. Next to the child should be parents and relatives who are able to direct him on the true path.
Lingering depression
Protracted depression is a problem in most modern teens. In this case, we are talking about a severe form of mental disorder. Here you can add drug, alcohol and toxic addiction, which require considerable financial expenses.
Often there are cases when a child, without the knowledge of his parents, takes valuable things, jewelry and equipment out of the house in order to earn money for the next dose. When the fact of theft comes up, the teenager decides to commit suicide in order to avoid responsibility for the deed.
Is it worth talking to a child about suicide?
Should I start talking about suicide with my child? No, not worth it. Because conversations on such topics arouse interest in the child, because, as you know, all that is forbidden becomes desirable.
If we talk about this topic, then the whole point should converge to the incorrectness and immorality of such an act. For example, we can mention that there is so much interesting ahead, and these children will not see everything that is going to happen.
How to warn a child. Proper prophylaxis
Is it possible to avoid such a terrible ending as teenage suicide? The reasons that affect the possibility of suicide will become apparent if you pay close attention to such points:
- Phone calls and just a conversation with friends. If a child at least once touched on the topic of suicide, then perhaps it is worth paying attention to this.
- Silence, constant loneliness and unwillingness to communicate.
- Literature read by a child. Books need special attention. If the child does not read books, perhaps he is watching a video on the Internet.
- Musical compositions and films.
It is advisable to keep track of the sites that the teenager visits. Now more and more projects are being released that adversely affect the human psyche, and especially children's and teenage ones.
Unobtrusiveness, coupled with control, a normal attitude and communication of the child with parents will help your child cope with a critical age crisis without any negative consequences. Communicate more, then you will learn to recognize the wrong behavior of the child and find out its causes. And the prevention of teenage suicide lies precisely in the attention and care for children.