Suicide among Teenagers

Suicide among Teenagers

Suicide is a serious health issue across the globe. According to CDC, suicide alone accounts for 1.4% of all deaths worldwide. In a year, it is estimated that 800,000 individuals commit suicide while many more attempt suicide. Suicide is a health problem that severely affects families and impacts on the economy. Close to $11 billion is lost annually due to loss of productivity associated with suicide cases. This is a major problem, especially for teenagers in the US. A 2016 report ranks suicide second in causing deaths among the youth. The common methods that people employ to take their lives are self-poisoning using pesticides, using firearms, and hanging. Mental health and depression are the major risk factors for suicide. For teenagers, child abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, and joblessness are among the risk factors for suicide. However, suicide can be prevented through timely identification of the risk factors. There are prevention policies that are in place to reduce suicide cases.

Policies on Suicide

Suicide among adolescents have increased the need to develop prevention policies and programs. CDC developed a suicide control program duped Youth Suicide Prevention Program. The program identified various strategies that can be used to prevent suicide among teenagers. Some of the main strategies adopted are; peer support programs, suicide education, and restricted access to guns and pesticides. Apart from the program model suggested by CDC, there are other policies that exist which help to reduce suicide cases among teenagers. One of the policies is the reduction of access to the various means used to commit suicide. With the policy, access to pesticides and firearms is restricted. Research shows that suicide among youths is mostly done using firearms and self-poisoning using pesticides in most agricultural areas. Restricting access to such products reduce the risk of committing suicide. Although a lot of effort has been put on the issue, funding problems hinder the success of prevention programs. The programs lack long-term funding.

Public Health Response to Teenage Suicide

The public health department is mandated with the promotion of good health practices in communities. Regarding the teenage suicide problem, the public held has adopted various strategies to prevent suicide cases among teenagers. The first intervention method adopted by the public health is prioritizing identification and treatment of patients exhibiting the risk factors for suicide. People suffering from depression and other mental disorders are being treated with the utmost emergency before they develop suicidal signs. This category of patients include those suffering from chronic pain and substance use disorders.

Healthcare institutions ensure that there is a continuous contact between health care providers and patients who show signs of committing suicide. Care providers provide counselling, which makes patients feel a sense of concern from others. Depression that results in suicide can be worsened by loneliness. Close contact with caregivers is helpful in reducing the impacts of loneliness. Lastly, community support and follow-up care for individuals who had earlier attempted suicide are effective in reducing suicide in teenagers.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the best methods to prevent suicide among teenagers is by mixing the various prevention programs. Combining community and school intervention programs will result in better outcomes. Prevention programs need to be connected with professional mental health resources. Prevention programs targeting the youth need to recognize depression a major risk factor that require immediate treatment. Substance and alcohol control policies in schools should be developed and strictly implemented to reduce harmful consumption whose end product will be suicide. Lastly, it is recommended that close coordination and collaboration between various sectors in the society would positively influence preventive efforts. There is need for collaboration between schools, hospitals, communities, justice systems, media, and policy makers. This will ease the process of identifying and treating teenagers with risk factors that lead to suicide.