Why are there so many depressed/suicidal teens?

[Riprorin]

Just read an article at CNN.com that 500,000 teens attempt suicide each year and 800,000 are depressed.

What happens when these kids hit adulthood?

What's happened in the last 30 years that the teen suicide rate has tripled?

 

[CurtCold]

"What happens when these kids hit adulthood?"

I think it boils down to pressure to do something with their life. There is soo much that is expected of kids now days. And not every one fits in. I think that's the problem

 

[TourGuide]

It's probably due to their mother's working so they can send them to catholic school.

 

[gopunk]

must be the internet

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: CurtCold
"What happens when these kids hit adulthood?"

I think it boils down to pressure to do something with their life. There is soo much that is expected of kids now days. And not every one fits in. I think that's the problem

There's nothing more expected of kids now than there was fifty, one hundred, or five hundred years ago. What's changed is the perception that "kids need some time to be a kid". Bullshit. Get a job, earn some money, take care of your family, and make something of yourself. Do you have to be a millionaire, or a straight A student, or an Eagle Scout? No. But for God's sake, do something.

 

[nater]

Originally posted by: TourGuide
It's probably due to their mother's working so they can send them to catholic school.

What are you talking about?

Anyway, kids are really really overstressed these days...just growing up and dealing with physical/mental/emotional changes is extremely difficult in itself, not to mention getting good grades, having jobs, excelling in sports, and fitting in. Most people can take one or two of those things in stride, but when they all add up together, it drives some kids off the edge. As to what happens to them in the future, they for the most part get over it.

< - - 17 year old who has thought about suicide briefly before, but very soon got over it.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Just read an article at CNN.com that 500,000 teens attempt suicide each year and 800,000 are depressed.

What happens when these kids hit adulthood?

What's happened in the last 30 years that the teen suicide rate has tripled?

Media sensationalism at work here, folks. Just think. How many teens do you think there is in the US? In Illinois (or any other state) alone?

 

[TourGuide]

What are you talking about?

Just having a little fun. Working mothers and catholic schools are two of Ripper's favorites.

 

[Spyro]

Originally posted by: Jehovah

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Just read an article at CNN.com that 500,000 teens attempt suicide each year and 800,000 are depressed.

What happens when these kids hit adulthood?

What's happened in the last 30 years that the teen suicide rate has tripled?

Media sensationalism at work here, folks. Just think. How many teens do you think there is in the US? In Illinois (or any other state) alone?

Tell me about it. I'm a teen and I'm neither suicidal or depressed, and I know many others who aren't too.

 

[HappyDude111]

i dont know? Most people i know are normal. and im 16. Maybe its not New Jersey and is some other state.n or canada.

 

[Anubis]

take a good look at popular society today. im gonna guess all or most of these kids were thoes that were shuned from by teh "In corwd" because they arnt "cool". because for some reason out culture has become compleatly based on fake sh!t and sterotypes. everyone that dosent look like an abacrombie model. isnt worth talking to. There people that are depressed and kill themselfs probibily realize this and act above it. and because of their enligntned state the ignorant masses make fun of them. leading them to take their own lives and live in depression. its teh same reason people go to school and kill people.

thoes who refuse to conform get sh!t on in this country and its just plain wrong. It happened to me when I was in HS. but i just took it all with a grain of salt. and moved on. some peopel just cant do that.

EDIT: and yes i thought about killing myself more then once. and actually tried. needless to say. im better now . But this didnt happen till my 20's

 

[HappyDude111]

its bullshiut that i make 6 dollars an hour at my job. I go to school 7 hours a day then work for 5 hours. its like 12 hour day and i only make 100 dollars a week.

Thats what pisses me off. Everything else is good though

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1
take a good look at popular society today. im gonna guess all or most of these kids were thoes that were shuned from by teh "In corwd" because they arnt "cool". because for some reason out culture has become compleatly based on fake sh!t and sterotypes. everyone that dosent look like an abacrombie model. isnt worth talking to. There peopel that are depressed and kill themselfs probibily realize this and act above it. and because of their enligntned state the ignorant masses make fun of them. leading them to take their own lives and live in depression. its teh same reason peoel go to school and kill people.

thoes who refuse to conform get sh!t on in this country and its just plain wrong. It happened to me when I was in HS. but i just took it all with a grain of salt. and moved on. some peopel just cant do that.

EDIT: and yes i thought about killing myself more then once. and actually tried. needless to say. im better now

Obviously, people like you are the exception. The media oversensationalizes everything to the point where less than 1% of the population is troubled, and they think it's a problem.

Gawd I hate politicians and the media . . .. And the popular media feeding all this bullsh!t to the people makes kids (the 1%) think that they can gain acceptance/attention through lashing out . . . it's a vicious cycle here folks - I'm not letting my kid watch TV until he's 32.

 

[Geekbabe]

I thought the existance of teenagers made parents suicidal?

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: HappyDude111
its bullshiut that i make 6 dollars an hour at my job. I go to school 7 hours a day then work for 5 hours. its like 12 hour day and i only make 100 dollars a week.

Thats what pisses me off. Everything else is good though

Poor baby.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I thought the existance of teenagers made parents suicidal?

Only for some of them.

 

[BD231]

Go through highschool for 4 years and see if the thought of death in any form or depression doesn't cross your mind at least once. Kids are crule little people once puberty hits, I'm sure wacked parents have a fair share of responsibility in depressed teens as well.

 

[Citation]

Punk music, People who build Ricers, and Miller beer all make me want to kill myself, I'm sure that is why.


-Rez

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Depression is a lot more common that you'd probably think. What's different is that the media focus on the issue due to its sensationalist nature increases coverage of suicides (and more recently, homicide/suicides), and this, in turn, basically gives an air of legitimacy to a desperate course of action to people in a distressed mental state. The mental logic sounds something like "Well, maybe I'll be dead, but at least everyone will be talking about me." The days of Heathers may not be all that far off.

 

[freebee]

When one derives no pleasure from living and whose attempts at love are not returned, death no longer seems strange or distant, but rather an attractive option.

 

[Orsorum]

I doubt depression is anything new in teenagers, I think a great deal of it has to do with the breaking away from one's parents/family,and seeking out a personal identity - one of the biggest issues that arises during this time is a search for meaning, for significance in one's life. Metaphysical issues aside, it's not surprising that suicide comes up.

What has changed is society's attitudes towards suicide and the lessening of a stigma associated with it - less of an association with the parents' values or worth and more of an individual action by the teenager. (Geekbabe said this much more clearly in another thread, props to her)

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
Depression is a lot more common that you'd probably think. What's different is that the media focus on the issue due to its sensationalist nature increases coverage of suicides (and more recently, homicide/suicides), and this, in turn, basically gives an air of legitimacy to a desperate course of action to people in a distressed mental state. The mental logic sounds something like "Well, maybe I'll be dead, but at least everyone will be talking about me." The days of Heathers may not be all that far off.

Exactly.

 

[idNut]

School and conformity. I doubt I have a future and it tears me apart.

 

[Giblet]

its the media all the way. they see what they wish to be and dont obtain it and get depressed. they hear about suicides and see it as a last resort. it also has to do with thier peers. not having something to cling onto like a good base of freinds can make someone go into a spiral of depression. they start to feel like no one cares at all and eventualy they dont care themselves and go over the edge. I was almost to that point a long time ago. but then i found a social group where i fit in. people that would exept me how i was. god bless the nerds

 

[Leetman]

I'm a teen and i can safely say I'm depressed more than i would like to be. Main cause? school + the stress of having to get into a good college to be successful in life.