Suicidal Deaths Among Teenagers in America Essay Example

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report released by the institution shows that the rate of suicide by firearms among teenagers have been increasing making the method of suicide by firearm being considered the number one method that teenagers use to commit suicide. Despite the death by firearm among teenagers taking a decreasing trend in the early 2000s, this has however been the opposite as most teenagers today prefer to use this method to end their lives thus leading to an increase in these social issues among teenagers across the country. Suicide is today considered one of the leading causes of death among citizens of U.S., as it contributes to an average of 40, 000 deaths annually. The statistics released by CDC in 2014 shows that the rate of death among both genders was 24 percent higher in 2014 compared to what was recorded in 1999 (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars). This statistic clear indicates that there is a serious problem when it comes to the act of people choosing to commit suicide amongst themselves so as to avoid emotional and stressful life.

It is, however, worth noting that the higher rate of suicide among women is contributed by the fact that the girls between the age of 10 and 14 are the most affected group. These groups of teenagers have provided the highest percentage increase of suicidal death among women.

Case Study on Suicidal Deaths among Teenagers

In 2014, Laurie Hyatt from Barton College conducted a case study titled “A Case Study of the Suicide of a Gifted Female Adolescent: Implications for Prediction and Prevention” where she analyzed the social issue of suicidal death among teenagers in American society. In

this case study, the researcher mainly focused on the gifted adolescent female who chose to take her life just at the age of 18 years using a firearm. In this case study, Laurie aimed at investigating the personal, cultural, and environmental issues that influenced the young lady to cut her life short using the firearm.

To effectively produce a scientific qualitative analysis on how the above three factors/variables (cultural, personal, and environmental) affected the decision of the teenager to commit suicide, the researcher opted to use the data which were collected from documents, interviews on the topic of suicide among teenagers, and other artifacts such as videotape which was a compilation of various events of the teenager’s life so as to assess her psychological, mental and emotional wellbeing during her lifetime. The case study also involved a psychological autopsy in which the researcher resorted to analyzing the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the brilliant young female student whose tormented and emotional instability made her to use a firearm to end her life short. In this case study, the researcher’s main purpose was to identify and examine determine the various factors that influenced the girl to end her pain using the firearm and thereby chose death over life. Laurie was of the view that by undertaking the above analysis, she will positively contribute well-researched information which was vital in addressing the high rate of suicide deaths among teenagers just like the young girl had chosen to kill herself.

There are numerous social and psychological theories that have been identified to help study the emotion, mental and the psychological wellbeing of individuals so as to help policymakers and other

stakeholders understand why individuals prefer to act in a certain manner or choose to undertake a given activity which is deemed to be against the norms of the society. The issue of committing suicide is one of the issues which society discourage and it is even outlawed by the American constitution which states that no one has the right to end the life of another person or himself/herself or else under special circumstances. One of such theories is the A-B-C theory which adequately addresses the issue of emotion and psychological stability of a person. This paper, therefore, aims to analyze how the above two theories can be used to address the above social issue of suicide cases among teenagers are researched by Laurie in her case study above.

Findings of the Case Study

The case study by Laurie raises many questions concerning the dynamics that influence young teenagers to take the critical steps of committing suicide rather than portraying the aspect of happiness and hopefulness that things will be better tomorrow despite the fact that they are not pleasing at the current situation. In this cases study, Laurie found out that some of the issues that might have influenced Amber to take the firearm and shoot herself were environmental factors that could have been addressed adequately and to help save the life of the young girl. These factors included influence of peer pressure, lack of trust in others, being bullied by friends and the aspect of desiring to achieve perfectionism. The autopsy investigation showed that Amber was a victim of was bulliness right from kindergarten and in most cases she always came home crying claiming that she

had been beaten by her friends. Amber took the opportunity to constantly complain to her mother of the numerous hurting remarks that her friend made about her when in school (Laurie, 2010).

It is apparently clear that the aspect of being bullied was one of the issues that made Amber commit suicide and this is based on the two letters she wrote where she cited that she was afraid of dealing with further rejection and unbearable loneliness. The influence of peer pressure in Amber’s action to commit suicide was also another important factor that pushed her to the corner to undertake such devastating action. This was proved by the letter written to her by one of her male friends who advised to commit suicide so as to provide a lasting solution to all her problems (Laurie, 2010).

The ABC Personality Theory

The ABC theory was developed by Albert Ellis in 1953, through his initial invention of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which was a brief but direct, and also solution-oriented therapy whose main objective was to help solve specific problems facing troubled individuals in the society. The key concept in the ABC personality theory was the concept of individuals’ emotions resulting from beliefs and the events which occur in their lives. In this theory, Albert argues that it is essential for individuals to have positive healthy and rational belief about themselves, so as to enhance emotional stability and positive thinking in an individual. Albert argues that if individual’s beliefs are irrational and self-defeating, the person will suffer from emotional instability which is associated with self-blame, anxiety, and depression. In many instances, individuals who suffer from such conditions become

helpless, stressful and mostly think of committing suicide as the best way out of their problems. In the REBT and specifically the ABC personality theory, Albert provides crucial information which can be used by therapists to enhance the occurrence of healthy beliefs among individuals suffering from emotional instability so as to prevent the occurrence of problematic behavior such as committing suicide by the victim.

The ABC personality theory is thus considered to be the best therapy to be used in solving cases which involve mental instability and emotional deterioration such as those shown by the young lady who committed suicide. The utilization of the theory in solving such problems involves three critical steps which are based on the abbreviation of the theory (A, B, and C). According to this theory, A represents the activating event to be solved. In most instances, the activating problem to be solved is usually associated with a challenging life situation that impacts negatively on the psychological wellbeing of the victim. In this case, the activating event that was addressed was the issue of bullying and peer pressure that Amber faced in the hands of her fellow students. This event was deemed to be challenging simply because it contributes a negative instable psychological well-being to the patient and it is, therefore, important for it to be understood adequately so as to help other patients who goes through the same challenges and who feel like committing suicide is the best way of solving their problems (Kervyn and Yzerbyt, 2015).

The next step in the theory is addressed by the abbreviation B which stands for the beliefs and perceptions which cause the drastic emotional consequences

as witnessed from the act of Amber who successfully commits suicide.During this phase, it is very crucial to understand the main reason why Amber though committing suicide was the best option for her case. There is the need to, therefore, imagine the negative, harsh social environment that Amber was facing and how such environmental issues played a role in her decision to commit suicide. To help other patients like Amber, there is need to urge such patients to stop having such negative thoughts about themselves regardless of their harsh social environment and what others say about them. The fact that Amber was giving much attention to his friends’ comments is the main cause of such depression affected her which eventually pushed her to commit suicide thinking that it was the best decision to do considering her situation. It is, therefore, essential for other people of the same problem like Amber to ensure that the constantly have a positive thinking about their lives rather than focusing on what the society say about them. It is also ideal for such individuals to understand that people are different and for this reason, they will also portray some behaviors which are different from their colleagues. The first step of coming out from such unstable mental thinking is for individuals to accept their fate and to sojourn on with their lives and not to look back.
The last of the ABC personality theory involves the assessment of how individuals’ beliefs take over their thoughts thus causing them to suffer from emotional instability. This phase which is represented by the abbreviation C aims at helping individuals with emotional problems to understand and

have a clear thinking that their beliefs of relying on their friend's comments are irrational and lacks the basis to demand his attention (Koch et al., 2016). With the above three phase therapy counseling, individuals who suffer from emotional setback can be helped so as to prevent them from undertaking the next critical step of committing suicide.

Conclusion

It is evident that indeed the issue of suicidal death among teenagers remains one big problem that needs adequate and immediate intervention. One of the processes that can be used in rectifying the situation is to provide counseling therapy to all the victims using the information provided in the ABC personality theory. In regard to solving the problem of suicidal deaths among teenagers, it is important that parents, teachers and psychologists ensure that the emotions and the personal thoughts of the victims are changed so that they begin displaying a positive thinking to help increase their emotional stability. By counseling these teenagers in time, the country can save numerous lives and help rehabilitate individuals to become productive in the society rather than opting to commit suicide and ending their life abruptly.

References

1. Lowry, R., Crosby, A.E., Brener, N.D. and Kann, L., 2014. Suicidal thoughts and attempts among US high school students: trends and associated health-risk behaviors, 1991–2011. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54(1), pp.100-108.
2. Shain, B., 2016. Suicide and suicide attempts in adolescents. Pediatrics, p.e20161420.
3. Abrutyn, S. and Mueller, A.S., 2014. Are suicidal behaviors contagious in adolescence? Using longitudinal data to examine suicide suggestion. American Sociological Review, 79(2), pp.211-227.
4. Kemp, J. and Bossarte, R., 2013. Suicide data report: 2012. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Services, Suicide Prevention Program.
5. National Center for Health Statistics.
   

(2009). Causes of death report. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. On 18th October, 2016.