Teenagers and Suicide
 

Teenagers and Suicide

Parents, health workers and educators must always recognize that suicide is not an illness, but it is a call for help

Teenagers and Suicide

Most suicidal teenagers desperately want to live; they are just unable to see alternatives to their problems
 
By Arnel Banaga Salgado

On October 4, 2009, the Star newspaper reported of a 13 year old Kota Bharu boy taking his own life and hanging himself with a nylon cord. Apparently, his parents had had no idea that he would take his own life. Last year, a 12 year old girl hanged herself because she did not get straight A‘s in her examination, contrary to her parents’ expectations. These data indicate that suicide is being considered by Malaysian teenagers as an escape route from their unsolvable problems.

The rise of suicides in Malaysia is quite alarming since most of those who kill or try to kill themselves are teenagers; cheerful youths without a care in life. These statistics stand for an average of about 7.4 per 100,000 teenagers for the three races in Malaysia, which may translate into a real public and mental health concern in the next five years.

What are the contributory factors that lead to the increasing number of suicides in Malaysia? Among these are failure to detect the early signs and symptoms of suicidal ideation, overbearing and demanding parents, childhood trauma and abuses among others, peer influence and drug addiction.

Suicide can be prevented provided parents or health workers can recognize the early signs and symptoms of suicidal ideation. Among these are:
  • Suicide threats (direct and indirect).
    This happens when a person tells everyone that he wants to die or he wants to kill himself. It is a warning signal that the person considers taking his own life.
  • Poems, essays, and drawings that refer to death.
    When a person writes a poem, articles or draws anything about death, then the person is entertaining suicidal ideation.
  • Dramatic change in personality or appearance.
    When a person becomes lonely, dramatic or highly emotional, he is certainly trying to communicate that he is going to hurt himself soon.
  • Overwhelming sense of guilt, shame, or rejection.
    When a person views himself as a failure, or perhaps feels guilty about his poor academic performance which is contrary to his parents’ expectations, as in the case of the 12 year old Malay girl who hanged herself last year.
  • Giving away belongings.
    When a person starts giving away all his precious possessions, then he is telegraphing his message that as he will be leaving the world soon, he has no need of those things.
  • Previous suicide attempts.
    Any person who has attempted suicide in the past will surely do it again in the future. It is not true that if a suicide is prevented the first time, the person will not do it again.
Parents, health workers and educators must always recognize that suicide is not an illness, but is a cry for help. If a teenager comes and approaches us, we need to listen to them as they have something to say. Perhaps, they are trying to reach out or they are trying to say, “I need you”. We must always remember that all teenagers and young adults are at risks, especially the following:
  • Depressed teenagers.
  • Drug addicts.
  • Gifted teenagers.
  • Learning-Disabled teenagers.
  • Unexpected pregnancy among teenagers.
Most suicidal teenagers desperately want to live; they are just unable to see alternatives to their problems. Thus, parents’ role is to offer them alternatives to solve the problems these youths encounter. It is a widely accepted fact that most people who commit suicide have talked about it or given definite warning signs of their suicidal intentions a few weeks before they actually commit suicide. So, if you spot any of the warning signals as identified above, perhaps you could save the teenagers, their lives. - END

If you need more help to deal with depression, please talk to our counselors at http://www.ucsi.edu.my/sao/sdc.asp or visit http://www.befrienders.org.my.
     
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