One of the more popular killers in the world today is self inflicted suicide. The rate of teenage suicide is rapidly rising, and the causes range from depression to drug abuse. Some teens show signs of depression, but a lot of them hide it in fear of being judged. Unlike older adults who commit suicide, teens very rarely will visit a physician to talk about their problems they are having. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for those ages 15 to 24, surpassed only by car accidents and homicide. Suicide rates are on the rise for younger adolescents as well, with dramatic increases noted in this age group from 1980 to 1996 (1). Suicide attempts are even more prevalent, though it is difficult to track the exact rates. Suicide rates amongst teens is on the rise due to several variables such as drug abuse and medications which leads to depression. .
Gender differences affect the means teens use to commit suicide. Girls, who are about twice as likely to attempt suicide as boys, tend to overdose on drugs or cut themselves. Boys, who complete suicide more often than girls, use firearms, hanging, or jumping more frequently. Because they tend to choose more sudden, lethal methods, boys are three or four times more likely to succeed in their attempts than girls. Why is it that girls are more tentative? Possibly because girls are more likely to cry out for help rather then boys. The risk of suicide increases dramatically when kids and teens have access to firearms at home, and nearly 60% of all successful suicides in the United States are committed with a gun (1). That's why it's imperative that any gun in your home be unloaded, locked, and kept out of the reach of children and adolescents. It is estimated that a teen attempts suicide every hour and forty five minutes(7).
Peer pressure as well as anxiety from everyday life sometimes steers a teenager down the path of drug abuse. It may start with an occasional weekend of drinking, marijuana smoking and so on.
