Why Are Suicide Rates in Young Adults High?
Introduction:
Suicide. The act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally. In 2019, Gaberial Taye committed suicide at the age of eight. Rates in the United States have increased throughout time. Ages 15 to 24, there were a total of 5,079 suicides in 2014 in making suicide the second leading cause of death for that age range. In 2018, 48,344 Americans have committed and died from suicide. But why? Why are there so many cases of teens committing suicide? Is it because by age 9/10, children in the United States report having suicidal thoughts? Or is it because children are exposed to violence which leads them to commit suicide?
Three research articles that can explain why suicide rates in youth and young adults are high. One of the research articles is “Exposure to Violence, the risk for suicide in youths and young adults” which demonstrates and explains the effects of early exposure to different types of interpersonal violence (also known as IPV) with suicide attempts and death. We then have the article “Alarming Rate of Suicidal Thoughts in 9-10-year-olds’ ‘ which identified a series of risk factors that are associated with childhood suicidality. Lastly, “Child and Adolescent Suicide, Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Approaches to Prevention” which is a study understanding child and adolescent suicide and developing treatments to prevent suicides in the future.
The current situation in why suicide rates are high in young adults is due to risk factors and lack of knowledge on preventing suicide. Choosing to talk about suicide especially with young adults is important for people to understand because we can prevent this from happening and save lives. Talking about suicide is a very difficult topic but as human beings, staying silent about, it can lead to have very tragic results and more importantly we won’t lose any more lives that could’ve been prevented.
Body:
To start, we have to understand what leads young adults to come to a point where committing suicide is the answer. Researcher Michael Viessides did a study to show that at age 10, children were identified and have factors that are associated with childhood suicidality. Viessides also identifies vulnerable children and plans interventions to bolster their mental health. Furthermore, Mirjami Pelkon and Mauri Marttunen also have identified changes when a child is having suicidal thoughts. Children and young adults who experience suicidal thoughts or engage in suicidal behaviors may have a big shift in a child’s development toward healthier outcomes.
Many risk factors have affected young adults. One specifically is child maltreatment (mistreatment) and subtypes. One study showed the rate of suicide when childhood physical abuse. Based on data that was found, there’s a significantly higher risk of suicide for those exposed to childhood physical abuse. This goes on with the child being bullied in school, sexual abuse, neglect, and dating violence. To add on, 50-75 percent of children who commit suicide have had a mood disorder. Mood disorders have been more common among young females whereas, for males, it tends to be antisocial disorder. Substance abuse/dependence reported by 81-95 percent of child and adolescent suicides. Lastly, it can also be due to family history that has risk factors for young suicides. Parental mental problems have 15-47 percent. It can vary from 2-30 percent from ages 8 to 10 based on family history. With these risk factors, it will tend to reflect on young adults. For instance, there are higher levels of psychopathology, psychosocial adversity, and medical morbidity.
Discussion:
These are why the current situation in suicide rates is high in young adults due to risk factors and having a lack of knowledge of knowing signs to help prevent suicide. How can we prevent this? Well first off, it’s very important for primary prevention such as school-based programs. This is one of the most popular approaches because these programs are increasing help-seeking behavior. This has the most significant risk factor for indirect-case programs for those who aimed to have suicidal thoughts or have attempted suicide. Another approach is crisis hotlines. Crisis hotlines are widely available for people with suicidal expert advice. However, sometimes they’re not helpful to reach young people. To move on there is also media education. For young adolescents, using social media can have a huge impact. Health professionals recommend assisting media professionals in responsible and accurate reporting. Lastly, is the psychosocial treatment of depressive disorders..
Conclusion:
To conclude, suicide rates increase greatly among young adults. It’s one of the most common causes of death. We need to understand the factors that can cause young adults to have these suicidal thoughts or actions to want to end their lives. Preventing suicide is highly important especially in young adults’ lives. Look out for signs and keep your eyes out for any signs.
Reference:
- Alarming Rate of Suicidal Thoughts in 9- and 10-Year-Olds. (2020, March 16). Retrieved from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926878#vp_2
- NBC News. (2020, March 19). 8-Year-Old Boy Commits Suicide After Being Bullied. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/good-cents/video/8-year-old-boy-commits-suicide-after-being-bullied-942843971529
- P. Castellví (2016, December 20). Exposure to violence, a risk for suicide in youths and young adults. A meta‐analysis of longitudinal studies. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/acps.12679
- Pelkonen, M. (2012, August 30). Child and Adolescent Suicide. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00128072-200305040-00004
- Suicide Statistics. (2019, April 16). Retrieved from https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
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