Chelsea and Brooke

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Social Inequality Teen Suicide

• By Scott, Lori, Austin,
• Chelsea and Brooke

2
Who did what?

• Scott-
• Introduction and general information.
• Chelsea-
• Family/Peer influence, Powerpoint
• Lori-
• Education/Society prospective
• Austin-
• Media prospective
• Brooke-
• Counseling/professional help information

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Facts and Statistics About Suicide

• Suicide for those between the ages of 15 and 24
  has tripled within the past 25 years
• 8th leading cause of death in men and 19th in
  women
• White males commit suicide more often (accounting
  for about 72 of all suicides)
• Suicide outnumbers homicide by a ratio of 53
• In the next 24 hours 1,439 Teens will attempt
  suicide.

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More Statistics Teen Suicide

• Males use more violent methods, such as handguns
  and other weapons to kill themselves
• Females usually tend to use methods such as
  overdosing on drugs or cutting themselves
• Gay and Lesbians are THREE times more likely to
  ATTEMPT suicide
• 500,000 teens try killing themselves each year,
  500 succeed
• Victims are not trying to end their lives, but
  their PAIN
• Suicide is the THIRD leading cause of death of
  people ages 15-24

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Family Influence Teen Suicide

• Short Story My Mothers Suicide
• The closer your connection to a depressed family
  member--a depressed father rather than a
  depressed uncle, for example--the greater an
  individual's likelihood of suffering depression,"
  
• (John Mann, chief of the department of
  neuroscience at Columbia University)
• One study proved children and adolescents who
  have been abused physically or sexually commonly
  suffer from fear, depression, suicide ideation,
  and suicide attempts.
• Video clip from Enough

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Warning Signs

• Close family member who has committed suicide.
• Recent losses This may include the death of a
  relative, a family divorce, or a breakup with a
  girlfriend.
• Social isolation
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Exposure to violence in the home or the social
  environment
• Handguns in the home, especially if loaded.

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Teen suicide is considered a mental health
problem, because over 90 percent of children and
adolescents who commit suicide have a mental
disorder.

• What can be done to help lower the suicide rate?

• Increase mental health care, and give better
  access to it.
• Further education in school and college
• Provide more state and local funding for
  awareness programs in the community

Attempted suicide crosses economic, social
and ethnic boundaries
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Additional Information

• Many road fatalities involving young males are
  thought to actually be suicides.
• Self neglecting behavior types
• (also considered suicide)
• Hunger strike
• Refusal to take life preserving medication

9
Increased suicide rate factors

• Emotional disturbance
• Childhood hardship
• Social disadvantage
• Early puberty
• Heightened family/social change
• Peer pressure in teen years
• Heavy alcohol and drug abuse

10
Media Influence

• Public awareness of this epidemic has actually
  been improved due to its depiction on popular
  television shows.
• Despite popular belief, suicides by famous
  people, such as Kurt Cobain, do not lead to
  increased rates of suicide by teens.
•  
• TV use has risen at the same time as suicide
  rates amongst 15-24 year olds.  By the times a
  person finishes high school, they have seen over
  18,000 deaths on tv.
•  

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Media Influence continued

• There is a greater correllation between tv and
  suicide than there is between drug use and young
  people taking there lives.
•  
• The presence of firearms in the house have caused
  more suicides than actual teens with mental
  disorders.  Firearms caused 60 percent of teen
  suicides in 1998.
• Some programs that are meant to raise awareness
  of suicide amongst teens have actually had a
  detrimental effect.

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There is help out there

• Teen crisis helpline
• 1-800-SUICIDE or 1-800-784-2433
•  www.teenadvice.org
•  www.teenhelp.org
• www.afsp.org

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Discussion Questions

• If you ever were to consider committing suicide,
  where would you go to for help?
• What do you think is the main determinant in teen
  suicide?
• Why do you think America holds the highest
  suicide rate overall?