Teen Suicide and Antidepressants

Pictures from: http://flickr.com/

In a study done by researchers from the United States Centers and Disease Control and Prevention shows that the suicide rate for “10 to 24 year old rose 8% from 2003 to 2004 after a drop of more than 28% from 1990 to 2003” (Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008). This is an emerging public health issue that needs to be addressed. Jeffrey Bridge is an epidemiologist at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio the lead author of this study stated that “we’re seeing more than 600 more suicides in this two-year period than we would have expected, and that is cause for concern” (Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008).It is clear that the suicide rates for young adults and teenagers are climbing, but how come and why after 13 years did the rate raise? A new argument suggests that a “drop in the use of antidepressants has led to an increase in teen suicides” (Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008).

The FDA has a black box warning “which link the drugs to suicidal thoughts and behavior in young people…the warnings contributed to a drop in prescriptions of the drugs for children and adolescents” (Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008) this is not a good sign for people who need to take medication and are choosing not to because of the warning associated with taking antidepressants. Taking antidepressants can save lives and help stable out your moods which is very important when you’re a teenager because you’re always up and down. It is often hard to correctly diagnosis a teenager because often the symptoms and warning signs of depression can go unnoticed or misdiagnosed. When I was a teenager one psychiatrist thought that I had borderline personality disorder but I later realized that it was anxiety and depression.

In 2007 the FDA responded to the concerns about people and the avoidance of antidepressants especially in cases that they were need by “calling for an update to the black box warning, adding that depression and certain other serious psychiatric disorders are themselves the most important cause of suicide” (Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008). Not treating a mental disorder may have tragic effects on that person until it is treated. If a disorder is not treated the person may contemplate suicide. The FDA also stated that “it is our intent to fully inform prescribers about the risks and benefits of antidepressant prescribing not to discourage appropriate prescribing” Rubenstein, Sarah, 2008) this is a good idea because people always look for the doctor’s expert opinion. We trust their judgment that they are giving us helpful medicine so it is very important that they explain the risks and benefits to patients before use. It is very important if you are feeling down or depressed to talk to someone and let them know how your feeling sometimes all you need is to talk to someone and get advice.

The link for this article:
http://rdas-proxy.mercy.edu:2103/pqdweb?index=5&sid=2&srchmode=2&vinst=PROD&fmt=4&startpage=-1&clientid=10766&vname=PQD&RQT=309&did=1546605971&ts=1235503853&vtype=PQD&rqt=309&TS=1235503881&clientId=10766&cc=1&TS=1235503881

Did you know

The length of the video is (4:42).

I enjoyed watching this video and it was very informative and entertaining. There were a lot of interesting facts that i did not know before watching this video. I think that it does show a form of xenophobia because it compares the United States again and again to other countries like India and China. It makes statements like how India has 25% of the population with the highest IQ and its greater than the total of the United States and china will be the number one speaking english country. In the video it said that we are preparing our students for jobs that don't even exist yet. Thats pretty insane to think about because they having be though of to employ people in an area but we are teaching and preparing students to get ready for it. Also that we are using technologies that haven't been inventeed in order to solve problems that we don't even know are problems yet. These are pretty real facts our technology's are going to expand to new technologies in the future and we will face new problems that haven't even surfaced yet. Every class I take now invovles a computer even when I take spanish class I am siting in front of a computer.

Teen Suicide Prevention

flickr.com


The rate of teen suicide is rising in the United States. In a recent study surveying high school students 60 percent admitted that they thought about killing themselves, and about nine percent admitted to trying at least one. This is an alarming rate. Why do students this young want to die. I don’t understand why they can’t see that maybe after high school life changes. Life can’t possibly be this bad as a teenager but apparently at that age you think that their world is coming to an end for various reasons. It is stated that “Boys commit suicide more often than girls” aap.org I think this is because boys suicide’s are often more successful than girls suicides.



Why has the rate of teen suicide gone up in recent years?

· It’s easier to get the tools for suicide (ex: boys often us guns and girls often use pills)
· The pressures of modern life are greater
· Competition for good grades and college admissions is tough
· There’s more violence in the newspapers and on television

aap.org

Another reason for the rate is the lack of parental interest in their children. Many children in the United States live in a non nuclear family. Each person’s family is different than the next especially in current times. Many children live in single parent or divorced homes and it is hard for children to cope with because there is only one parent there. Also children can grow up with parents that are never around to take care of them which is very tough on a child because they need to learn about the real world quick in order to survive. According to a study about “90 percent of suicidal teen-agers believed their families did not understand them…they also reported that when they tried to tell their parents about their feelings of unhappiness or failure their parents denied their point of view” aap.org. This is showing that parents are not listening and giving their children the attention and support they need when they dare down.


What signs are there to see if my teenager is depressed or thinking about suicide?

Has their personality changed dramatically?
Are they having trouble with his relationships?
Has the quality of school work gone down?
Do they always seen bored, and have trouble concentrating?
Have they run away from home?
Do they talk about suicide, even in a joking manner?
Have they tried to commit suicide before?
Have their appearance changed for the worse?
Are they giving away their things?

aap.org

If you think that you know someone thinking about suicide don’t remain silent. Suicide is preventable but you need to help immediately.

What should I do?

· Ask about it. Don’t be afraid to say suicide it may open the door to them letting you help them.
· Tell them you care about them and tell them that no matter how bad your problems are they can be fixed or worked on and that you are willing to help them through it.
· Ask about how they feel and listen carefully.
· Get professional help from a outpatient or hospital based treatment program.

Teen Suicide

I found this image on flickr.com

Teen suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents between the ages of 15 to 24. It is the fourth leading cause for children between the ages of 10 to 14 years old. Teen suicide is an important issue to take seriously because it does happen way more than it should. Last Wednesday a seventeen year old student at the elite Dalton School in New York City committed suicide by jumped to his death from his school building. The authorities said that after he arrived at school he went to the “dance studio, opened a window and jumped…students playing below scattered when the body hit the sidewalk, witnesses told the” nydailynews.com (Lazarowitz, Elizabeth, 2009). The teenager was identified as Theodore Graubard who was described as a “well liked, accomplished athlete and scholar who seemed to have much going for him” nydailynews.com (Lazarowitz, Elizabeth, 2009). He was a junior at Dalton and had won a few “academic awards and was involved in school activities including its web site” nydailynews.com (Lazarowitz, Elizabeth, 2009). What could possibly make this teenager who went to a prestigious school with opportunity and a future end his life at such a young age? Why did this happen and how come no one saw it?

I went to the Dalton’s school web page and I looked at the tuition to this prestige Dalton school and it is $33,100 per academic year. That tuition is more for one year for grades K - 12 than the four years of mercy I am attending to get my Bachelors in Behavioral Science. Why is it so much money to go to a school like that and your not even getting a college education yet and am I not getting a good education because I am not paying as much as them? I just don’t understand why the tutition is so high and how come people pay that much when they can send they kids to public school instead.

I looked at Dalton’s School Mission Statement and it stated that the “Dalton School is committed to providing an education of excellence that meets each student’s interests, abilities and needs within a common curricular framework and reflects and promotes an understanding of, and appreciation for, diversity in our community as an integral part of school life”(dalton.org). This school sounds like they go above and beyond for the students with they own interests and learing abilities in the school setting. I also see that they want to teach the students about the communities as well as work in the classwork.

Dalton school also has 4 major principles that they do daily in school.

1. Valuing all dimensions of each child – intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic, physical and spiritual.

2. Cultivating values of respect, integrity, compassion and justice to encourage community responsibility, combat prejudice and engage students as participants in a democratic society and global community.

3. Developing intellectual independence and risk-taking through inquiry, direct experience and collaboration.

4. Valuing all disciplines – the arts, sciences, humanities and physical development in an interdisciplinary curriculum, mindful of our historical emphasis on music, dance, theater and visual arts.
dalton.org

After reading that there seems to be too much going on for these children I can easily see why these students are stressed out. I bet this school also has a serious grading system. The school requires a lot of work for these students and probably tough standards to achieve which leads to high stress and anxiety. The student that recently died last week was a sad outcome to a tragedy that could have been prevented. People and especially parents expect so much from teenagers which is a very hard time for teens because of all the changes going one. These are still children and not adults there in between. We need to realizes that sometimes there are some warning signs like stress, changes in mood and appearance, loss of appetite use of drugs sleep, disturbances and depression which are risk factors a teens might be showing if mentally unstable. If you notice a friend or relative is unstable try and talk to them maybe they will open up and talk its worth a try especially in times like now when suicide rates are high.

Dating Violence

I found this image on flickr.com

Teenagers frequently experience violence in their dating relationships. In most cases teenagers are involved in their first relationship and don’t have any other dating experience. Violence can occur and the victim may think it’s ok because they don’t have anything to compare it against but this is not the case. Statistics show that “one in three teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship” (acadv.org) and that is an alarming rate. This type of violence is about maintaining power and control over the other person through abuse. Dating violence does not have any boundaries it can cross all racial, economic and social lines like we saw with Chris Brown and Rihanna. In most cases the victims are young women.
Dating violence can often go under the radar of most people because teenagers are so new to dating and are inexperience. There can also be “pressure by peers to act violently” (acadv.org) especially when it comes to the males because males tend to be more aggressive than women. Also teenagers want to have their independence from their parents and think they have all the answers. Teenagers are very reluctant to tell their parents much especially when it comes to relationships.
This violence can also be influenced by how teenagers look at themselves and other people. Both young men and women can have different views. First for young women they may believe that they “are responsible for solving problems in their relationships, their boyfriend’s jealousy, possessiveness and even physical abuse is romantic, and that abuse is normal” (acadv.org) because their friends and family might go through it as well. The young men might believe that they have the “right to control their female partners in any way necessary, masculinity is physical aggressiveness, they possess their partner, and they should demand intimacy” (acadv.org) and also they might believe they will lose a certain respect from their friends and girlfriends if they are supportive and attentive toward their girlfriends.
To avoid being in a abusive relationship there are a few things to notice or early warning signs that can help you realize if your partner may become or is abusive. Some clues might be:
Ø Extreme jealousy
Ø Shows hypersensitivity
Ø Believes in rigid sex roles
Ø Blames others for his problems or feelings
Ø Cruel to animals or children
Ø Verbally abusive
Ø Abused former partners
Ø Threatens violence
Ø Controlling behavior
Ø Quick involvement
Ø Unpredictable mood swings
Ø Alcohol and drug use
Ø Explosive anger
Ø Isolates you from friends and family
Ø Uses force during an argument
acadv.org
Also there are some common clues that might indicate if a teenager is experiencing dating violence. Some of the signs are:
Ø Physical signs of injury
Ø Truancy, dropping out of school
Ø Failing grades
Ø Indecision
Ø Changes in mood or personality
Ø Use of drugs/alcohol
Ø Pregnancy
Ø Emotional outburst
Ø Isolation
acadv.org
If you are involved in an abusive relationship you must remember that it is not your fault and no one deserves to be abused or threatened. You must get away from your abuser and seek help before it is to late. Abusers tend to get worse over time and not better so it is important for people who are in abusive relationship to take care of themselves and get the help they need because no one deserves it.

Date Rape

When people think of rape they might think of a stranger coming from out of nowhere and sexually attacking someone. However most of the time this is not the case. A rapist can be someone you know very well which is actually very scary to think about. According to an article I found on date rape is stated that “about half of all people who are raped know the person who attacked them…girls and women are most often raped, but guys also can be raped”kidshealth.org (D’Arcy Lyness PhD, 2009). When forced sexual acts occur between two people who know each other it is known as date rape or acquaintance rape. Also, even if the people have had sexual relations before it is still considered rape if both parties didn’t consent to it. I found this image on http://www.flickr.com/

Rape is not about sex or passion and has absolutely nothing to do with love. It is considered an act of aggression and violence followed by a label and punishment. People who were raped are not to blame and it is always the rapist fault even if the person raped was dating them. Sometimes people say oh well they were asking for it because of what they wore or how they acted but again it is never the victims fault.

I found this image on flickr.com

Drugs and alcohol often play a role in date rape. Drinking and using drugs makes a person less aware of their surrounding and they may do things that they might not normally do when they are sober. People often drug their victims drinks by putting “roofies like GHB, xanax and ketamine…drugs like these can easily be mixed in drinks to make a person black out and forget things that happened” kidshealth.org(D’Arcy Lyness PhD, 2009). It is always important to watch your drinks and make sure you don’t leave it unintended because there are a lot of messed up people out there waiting to take advantage.

To help protect yourself from being raped it is important to take certain precautions like avoid secluded places, stay sober and aware of your surroundings. Also don’t hang around people who you don’t trust if you have any doubt in your mind about a person leave. People should also hang out in groups. Most importantly, if you’re not ready to have sex and you’re in a relationship let your partner know so that you’re both on the same page. If you are a victim of rape it is very important for you to seek help and talk to someone. Rape can be equally physically and emotionally damaging to people who have went through such a traumatic experience.

Substance Abuse in Teens

Teenage drug use is a continuing epidemic now plaguing the United States. Drug addiction is occurring more frequently in teenagers the rates are also going up. According to an article from Medicinal News Today “fifteen per cent of teenagers had positive results on a substance abuse screening test when they came in for routine outpatient medical care”medical news today (Nordqvist 2007) so when children see their doctors they care coming up positive for using drugs. The article stated that adolescent addiction can “generally predict future addictive disorders” (Nordqvist 2007).

I got this image from http://flickr.com/

Substance abuse is one of the leading causes of death among the United States teenagers following unintentional injuries, homicides and suicides. This is because teenagers are very rebellious and think they know everything when they actually don’t and they try to experiment with too many things which lead to an overdose. Drug abuse can also be linked to a “conduct disorder, unplanned sexual activity and depression” (Nordqvist 2007) and a variety of side effects. It can ruin families and friends trust and mess up your goals.

I used drugs in high school and I choose never to go class because my goals were about getting high and rebelling. Sometimes I think if I maybe didn’t fuck up my last two years in high school maybe I would have went away to college and graduated on time and had a real job by now. I see people my age already done with school and they are working in their career and it sucks because I chose a different path when I was a teenager. I did a lot of things that I look back on now and say what the hell was I thinking I would never do something like that now. I really wasn’t thinking about what I was doing because my mind was so messed up and I didn’t care about myself. Now I am on the right track and I am going to school full time, working full time and living with my boyfriend. I don’t use drugs anymore I think their stupid and a waste of money, now I’d rather save my money for other things than use it for drugs. I am kind of grateful that I had an experience like that when I was a teenager rather than later on in life because I got help early and got back on track.

It is really important to notice if your children or anyone you know is using and it is effecting their life because I teenagers don’t know the consequences of their actions and how it can affect them later on in life. If teenagers are getting addicted to drugs now we need to do something to help them before it is too late. The article stated that “early identification and intervention of adolescent substance use present the greatest opportunity for reducing the burden of addictive disorder later on in life” (Nordqvist 2007).

I got this image from flickr.com

Teen pregnancy the social issue

Teenage pregnancy is becoming an important social issue in our culture. Nearly half of the teens in the United States have had sex at least once between the ages of 15 and 19. A teen that is sexually active and does not use contraceptive methods, has a “90% chance of becoming pregnant in the first year of having sex” according to guttmacher.org. That is a scary factor to think after the first time you have sex you can get pregnant within a year.

I found this image on :http://http//www.topnews.in/health/files/pregnancy.jpg

Each year about 750,000 teenagers between 15 and 19 get pregnant. Teen pregnancy rates are higher in the United States and are eight times as high as Japan’s rates. Some questions I wonder about are How come our rates are so high and what are we doing to deal with this problem. Also why aren’t teenagers more careful when they do have sex.

This is a social issue that can be helped by providing them with education about contraceptive methods, STD’s and education. This is an important issue to discuss because there is a lot at risk for teens that become pregnant. For example it makes it harder for the mother to finish school on time and for the most part teenagers are still developing. How is a teenager financially ready to support a child when they are still in high school. I don’t think they are emotionally ready either and I think it is important to get the message out about teen pregnancy and the outcomes it leads to. For a teenager becoming a mother at such a young age it leads to “affects the health and well being for the next 20 to 40 years” according to cnn.

I do agree that the media does have a potential role in this epidemic but it is not the entire cause for it. Somethings that teens see on tv they might want to be like or do. During the last election Sarah Palin’s daughter was a teenager who was pregnant and to me it seemed like the family was ok with it like it was an everyday thing. To have a girl in the spot light like that is unacceptable and I don’t think it sends an appropriate messages to the youth’s of America. The parents need to be more aware of what their children are doing and send a positive message to their kids.