Teen suicides… why ????

The definition of suicide contains two components – that the individual brought about his or her own death, and that he/she did so knowingly. Attempted suicide or suicide is usually carried out at the height of an interpersonal crisis. Suicides can be grouped in to two broad categories. The first group includes those deaths comes as a surprise to his/her acquaintances.

Often these are individuals who have led stable lives but whose stability has been precariously dependent on one other individual.

The other sub group is chronically maladjusted individuals. They have a long history of personal difficulties, conflicts with the law, work instability and sometimes interpersonal violence.

Teenagers who attempt suicide have similar difficulties to their adult counterparts, but in many cases they also face problems in their relationships with their parents. Although psychological and psychiatric issues are found in most individuals who attempt suicide, only a third are found to have definite psychological disorder. In many cases this is transient, being largely secondary to social difficulties. About 5-8% of individuals suffer from serious psychological illnesses, which require treatment in a hospital. The most common disorder is depression, with anxiety and schizophrenia (a serious psychiatric condition) occurring in few cases.

Read more »