Over one million people commit suicide every year. This is also one of the leading causes of death among teenagers and adults under 35. At the beginning of my research, I truly believed that most cases of suicide could be prevented, and worked through if just one person knew what signs to look for, some kind of tendency that should raise a red flag to that person’s family and loved ones. No one is too naive to realize that if someone truly wants to die, they may not show any signs of depression at all. It has been said that sometimes, the person has come to complete peace with what they are going to do, and actually act completely normal.
A person who is contemplating suicide but does not really want to go through with it may show major signs to the people around them so that a red flag goes up. Suicide is with us every day, and every hour and a half someone commits suicide. The latest epidemic with our country is the teens committing suicide over things such as the way they look, their sexuality, fights with friends, etc. Statistics show that an estimated 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves every year and out of those, about 5,000 succeed. The number one cause of suicide is depression.
Depression can be very hard to diagnose and since there are so many types of depression, not every person will have the same symptoms. A typical sign of suicide is withdrawing from family and friends. A friend of mine who committed suicide did not show that warning. She acted completely normal. Researching for this paper, it was found that sometimes the person is so at peace with wanting to end the pain they are going through that they will actually become a happier, calmer person than they are normally. I would not have guessed that until I read it.
A loss of interest in sports or normal activities, and withdrawing from family is a huge red flag that there is something wrong and it should be addressed immediately. Teens often do not want to talk with their family about relationship problems, but if a typically close knit relationship between a teen and their parents starts to show signs of anger, or resentment, it could mean they are withdrawing from that openness. Someone who once enjoyed every aspect of life but can no longer find those simple joys in life, and rarely smiles could be depressed as well.
Anger with anyone who tries to talk about something that might be going on in that person’s life is also a red flag. Probably the biggest change one would see in the person is going from a sweet, carefree and fun loving person that everyone loves to be around to someone who rarely wants to hang out, does not return phone calls, sits at home drinking alone, and starts giving things that he or she loves away to the people they care about the most. We read about and hear about all of these suicide epidemics among teenagers on a daily basis and have grown accustomed to hearing these sad stories.
Often times, the obituaries will say things such as “died suddenly” or “died accidentally”. This could be a case of suicide being covered up so that a family is not shamed. In another direction, there are sometimes debates on whether or not the elderly or incurably ill should be allowed to take their own lives or have a loved one do it for them. Sadly, suicide is no longer an unheard of word in every day conversation. Every time a person commits suicide, there is always the question of “why?
” Afterwards by their family and friends. Although sometimes the answer seems obvious and can be figured out, for those who did not show any signs of depression or that anything was wrong, it is even harder to take in. Family and friends wonder if there was something that they missed or observed but did not take seriously. The sad fact though, as stated previously, is that if someone has made up their mind that they truly want to die, there is really little that can be done to stop them.