NOTE: This paper was writen before grading. Read at your own risk!

Suicide; just saying the word will make anyone cringe. It affects millions of people around the world each year, teenagers and adults. People lose relatives, friends, co-workers and other close people to suicide every day. Unfortunately, the one generation that sees high suicide rates occurs in the teenage/young adult ages. Narrowing down from those generations, possibly the worst is teenage suicide. Teenage suicide has to do with many different emotions or happenings. Preventing teenage suicide can be effective if one has the right materials and knowledge to deal with the horrific tragedy called teenage suicide.

Teenage suicide is a big problem in our society which needs to be dealt with immediately. A common reason a teenager will commit suicide lies in the fact that many of them suffer from depression or from a bad situation (“Suicide”). Teenagers may suffer from these subjects due to many reasons; one being the fact that they are on a roller coaster of emotions which then causes many different aspects of depression to occur. Many teenagers commit suicide and unfortunately, the number is staggering. According to the Depression Guide, almost 5,000 young teenagers commit suicide each year between the ages of fifteen and twenty four (“Teenage Depression and Suicide”). The number 5,000 is 5,000 teenagers too many to be committing suicide; teenage suicide is a big problem each year. With so many teenagers committing suicide in one year, something must be done to teach people about the dangers of suicide during the teen years. In summary, teenage suicide is a big problem in our society and must be fixed before more innocent teenagers end their God given life; people must learn how to detect teenage suicide before it occurs.

Teenage suicide does have a plus side: if someone knows what to look for in a person that is hinting suicide, that person might be able to prevent the horrific thought that comes with suicide. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry lists the sign of teenage suicide saying, “Parents should be aware of the following signs of adolescents who may try to kill themselves: change in eating and sleeping habits, withdrawal from friends, family, and regular activities, violent actions, rebellious behavior, running away, drug and alcohol abuse, unusual neglect of person appearance, marked personality change, persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating, a decline in the quality of schoolwork, frequent complains, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, and not tolerating praise of rewards” (“Teen Suicide”). Realizing and recognizing these signs in a possible suicidal person can be the difference between life and death. Just as there are many signs for suicide, one important sign is the way the suicidal talks and reacts to certain sayings or happenings. In fact, many teenagers who are contemplating suicide will even talk about suicide beforehand saying phrases such as “life is just not important enough” or “I just want this all to end!” (“Teenage Suicide”). Some teenagers might discuss beforehand the topic of suicide because suicide is heavily placed on their mind and they can’t get it out of their head. By talking to the person, you will hopefully be able to recognize that the person is hinting at suicide and be able to better the person’s chances of life. In summary, teenage suicide can be detected from an early standpoint if someone knows the correct signs and what to look for; however, if that person does not know the signs, they could end up losing a friend, family member, co worker or someone close even when their were solutions to preventing suicide.

Teenage suicide is something that affects many people around the world; but there are a couple proposals to the solution of teenage suicide. The AmericanAcademy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry proposes one solution saying, “Depression and suicidal feelings are treatable mental disorders. The child or adolescent needs to have his or her illness recognized and diagnosed, and appropriate treatment plans developed. When parents are in doubt whether their child has a serious problem, a psychiatric examination can be very helpful” (“Teen Suicide”). Doctors, such as psychiatric physicians, know all about the psychiatric problems that come with suicide; this proposal can be helpful when you do not know if the person is contemplating suicide or not. Just as seeing a doctor can be a legitimate proposal to the teenage suicide solution, another proposal is as easy as just communicating with them. Most suicidal teenagers that are going through stages of depression and thinking about suicide are very unaided and helpless; one of the best, and yet the easiest solution is just to talk to them (“Teenage Suicide”). Talking with the suicidal person is not only easy, but it can also prove to be very helpful because you might end up talking the teenager out of suicide. Also, just by talking to them, someone may be able to completely cure their horrible thought of suicide all together and bring them out of the crisis on top. Solutions can be proven very easy and helpful, but you must act immediately in order to secure success.

The proposals to the horrible thing called teenage suicide are very easy to figure out, but the main key to performing success is to take action quickly. The University of Texas, HarrisCountyPsychiatricCenter at Houston says, “Become involved and offer support, hope, encouragement and understanding. Most importantly, take action immediately” (“Understanding Teen Suicide”). By taking action immediately in this situation, you may be able to prevent suicide and more harmful acts that the suicidal person is contemplating. If you take action immediately, you might be able to not only save the suicidal person from committing suicide, but also save yourself and others around you from the pain, emotions, stress and all the other painful thoughts that come out of suicide. Teenagers, especially in their early days of strengthening as an adult, deal with a variety of different pressures and many questions about whom they are and where they fit in which, in some cases, can even cause suicidal thoughts by feeling rejected or not wanted (“Teen Depression”). When teenagers are feeling these horrible emotions of rejection, it is very easy for them to just give up, but if one realizes a problem and acts quickly, their life could be spared. Once that person acts quickly to save the suicidal person, he or she must continue to watch the person and again be ready to act quickly and repeat the same process if needed. In summary, a proposal to the solution of teenage suicide can be found easy, but you must take action immediately and be sure to not partake in certain happenings when proposing a solution.  So now say someone has now successfully prevented a teenager from committing suicide; however, the risks are still probable that the teen might still commit suicide so there are a couple of things to do in order to make sure the teenager is safe and suicide-thought free. One of these things is explained where WebMD suggests that “One key protective factor of suicide is to restrict access to the methods for committing it. It’s vital for friends and family members of someone who is at risk of suicide to understand the methods commonly used” (“Preventing Teen Suicide”). When the people close to the suicidal person learn the methods by which suicide is committed, this gives them the chance to do something about these methods; for example, hide the family gun or make sure all sharp objects are put up in a safe and unreachable place. Things like this will prevent suicide in their own way; it’s the person’s job to take responsibility and do those actions. Along with recognizing the methods of suicide, another thing to do to make sure the teenager is back up to par is to watch them very close for any more suicidal thoughts or behavioral issues (“Teen Depression”). By watching the teenager, one may be able to again prevent suicide either for the first time or the second time. Some of the ways to watch the person simply include making sure they do not hint at any suicidal thoughts and just by carefully watching their every move to secure stability. One more way to make sure the teenager does not hint at suicide for another time is to be sure to watch the teenager for signs of depression (“Teenage Suicide”). Depression is one of the leading causes of suicide; by watching the teenager more fully, if depression does set in, then the person watching the teen will know to get help immediately so the teen does not face suicide hints again. Also, by watching for depression and then jumping in to help the victim, the victim, suicidal person, might also feel like someone out there really does care for them and that suicide is not the answer! All in all, if a person knows what to look for and understands the importance of the thought of suicide, he or she will be able to save someone’s life from going to waste.

In conclusion, suicide is a preventable occurrence and can be proven very easy to do if one has the correct knowledge and understanding it takes to help suicidal people. If there were more television commercials, magazine articles, radio talks, and other important ways to get messages out about suicide, more people would recognize if their friend, co-worker, family member, etc. is thinking about suicide. The person can then help the suicidal person with their problems and everything will turn out just fine. Fortunately throughout the past 10 years, suicidal rates have dropped tremendously; one of the reasons for this may lie in the fact that so much talk over suicide is going people, will now recognize its importance and help their peers.  Anyone who is thinking about suicide should have friends that know how to deal with suicide in order to help them with their problems. Suicide in general is a very horrific and distraught thought.