Suicide is a very serious problem, and it happens too often for us to
ignore. I have always been interested in the different things involved in
suicide and what would cause a person to kill themselves, but have never had
the time to find out, until now.
I used to think it was something that was a
spur of the moment decision, but it¹s not always. I thought it only happened to
kids whose parents abused them, but that¹s not always true. I found that out
when one of my friends that I had known since I was born had given serious
thought about it. She is a wonderful poet with poems in hundreds of magazines,
and she is also an extraordinary artist with paintings in museums that are
selling for a thousand dollars. This girl is only 17. The one thing that seemed
to be the slightest bit disturbing about her life was that her parents had a
divorce when she was about seven, but other then that she seemed to have the
perfect life. She had been giving this serious thought for about a year, and
then one day she actually attempted to kill herself. I thought if someone
wanted to kill themselves it would be hard to fail. That¹s when I figured she
didn¹t really want to die. It was a cry for help, and she didn¹t know of any
other way to ask for it. I stayed a week with her through this trying period in
her life, and found out it was partly because of her French exchange student
boyfriend. They weren¹t broken up, but he had to go back to France, and she
couldn¹t see him as much as she would have liked to. Her mother started taking
her to a psychiatrist to help her through her depression. If we hadn¹t have
done this she might not be with us today. Now, she has a fairly normal life.
She has a job at Amy¹s Ice Cream which required her to design an art piece in
order to get the job. Of course she was hired since she¹s so talented, and she
draws and paints to deal with her emotions. They call this art therapy, and it
really seems to work for those who already express themselves in their art
work. Other ways depression is dealt with is through writing, anger therapy,
exercise, dancing, group counseling, treatment centers, and peer assistance
networks.
When people don¹t talk to each other about
something, they may believe a lot of things about it that are myths. Here are some
of the myths about teen suicide and the truth about each one. People who say
they¹re going to kill themselves never do. That is not true. It is also
dangerous to believe it. Eight out of every ten suicide victims had told
someone they were planning to die. It is true that most people who talk about
killing themselves don¹t do it. But some of them mean what they say. Always
take it seriously when someone talks about suicide. If someone in your family
killed himself, you are more likely to do the same thing. This belief is very
harmful. It makes some young people feel that there is something wrong with
them. They feel that they are certain to kill themselves. Thinking about
suicide is not handed down from your parents. But having very strong feelings
can run in the family. Some people feel on top of the world when they are
happy. Then they are down in the dumps when they are sad. Strong feelings of
sadness can make a person think of suicide, but they don¹t have to, and they
usually don¹t. A person who tries suicide will try again. It is true that some
people who died of suicide had tried before. But it doesn¹t have to be true.
Getting help quickly may save them. Most suicides happen at night and at times
of the full moon. This is not true at all. Most suicides happen in the
afternoon or early evening. The moon has nothing to do with it. This same myth
says that most suicides happen at holiday times. The truth is that there are no
more suicides on holidays than on other days. People who try suicide want very
much to die. This is the most untrue myth of all. Most people who try suicide
do not want to die. They just cannot find an answer to a bad problem. They are
really calling out for help. Today people are specially trained to give that
help and prevent suicide. If you talk about suicide to an unhappy person, you
may give them the idea. This is not true either. People who are thinking about
killing themselves are so afraid of the thought that can¹t talk about it. Your
friend may be glad if you bring it up so that you can know how he/she feels. (
Teen Suicide pg. 19-21 )
A person who is thinking about suicide gives
signs of it, and looking for them could help before it¹s to late. Here¹s a few
signs from ( Teen Suicide pg. 7 )
~Talk about
suicide, death, and dying.
~Give away things
he/she really likes.
~Do dangerous
things.
~Act very
different
~Not want to do
anything
~Start to drink
or use other drugs.
~Go suddenly from
happy to sad and happy to sad.
If you notice
more than one of these signs, then the person is in real danger. You can call
411, and ask for the Suicide Hotline number, or you can dial 911.
Suicides are most common among white males. I
was appalled to find this out. In 1981 there were 3,775 white males, 856 white
females, 316 black males, and 71 black females who committed suicide in the
United States. That¹s a total of 5,161 in the United States. ( Coping with
Suicide pg.26 ) I read in Teen Suicide by Gail Stewart ( pg. 12 ) that there
were 600,000 suicide attempts in 1987. In the book Get Help by Sara Gilbert, from Rossanne, Sara
talks about different ways to get help. On page 123 it lists over one hundred
different organizations that will provide you with the assistance you need. I
recommend this book to anyone that is thinking about suicide or knows a person
that is thinking about it. It tells you what you need to know about suicide,
where to find help, what to ask, and what are the many different causes.
Remember there is no problem too big, too complicated, or too unusual to be solved.
Reading about this subject was depressing, but
I think everyone would benefit from reading about his whether they are suicidal
or not. I now know how to recognize the symptoms, why people choose to die over
a problem, and how to get a friend help. I am relieved to know that it looks
like none of my friends have these signs, and am glad to know if they ever do
have these signs I¹ll know what to do and be right there for her to talk to.
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