There is often media attention given to adolescent suicide, particularly as it relates to bullying. What does the research suggest about suicide risk in adolescence? What are the major risk factors for suicide? What kinds of things should parents and teachers be looking for in terms of identifying at-risk teens? What are good strategies for a response? What about bad strategies?

 

What does the research suggest about suicide risk in adolescence?

-Adolescent is the stage of development where the emotional part of the brain is the most developed and the cognitive part of the brain remains under developed. This is the primary reason why adolescents are prone to impulsive behaviors thus making them prone to suicide. Apart from that, suicide became the outlet to end the emotional pain because of the thought that physical pain is more bearable and easily felt than that of the emotional pain. According to News in Health (2020), teens who are engaging in risky behaviors such as drinking, substance abuse and dangerous driving are at risk of committing suicide. Further, another article written by Stevens, J. (2019), suggesting that suicide risk has been rising from children to adolescents because of the hidden risk factors that increases suicidal thoughts which includes but not limited to: Anxiety, poor sleeping patterns, violence, safety planning (i.e. coping strategies).

What are the major risk factors for suicide? 

Risk factors includes family history of suicide, exposure to violence, substance abuse, apart from that, exposure to stressful life situation at this age is also a risk factor such as a break up from a romantic relationship, problem with schools, or conflict with friends (News in Health, 2020). Apart from that, a personality trait of being exclusively withdrawn from other people and inability to express one's emotion are also risk factors.

What kinds of things should parents and teachers be looking for in terms of identifying at-risk teens? 

Primarily the best yardstick to determine at-risk teens for parents and teachers being the primary person who has direct contact with the teens, is to pay attention to changes in behavioral patterns exhibited by comparing past behavior to present behavior and by comparing the expected behavior manifestations during teens versus the actual behavioral manifestation.

What are good strategies for a response?

it is being attuned and sensitive to the needs and pressing issues of teenagers faced. They should be treated fairly equal as those of adults also, because their feelings matter. Good strategies as a form of prevention is having open communication to the teens so that they would be given a proper venue to ask and clarify conflicting thought in their mind and prevent misunderstanding of events.

What about bad strategies?

Bad strategies is when the feelings felt by teenagers are denied or not being believed in. which includes response such as:

• you are not suppose to feel that way
• you are weak for thinking of those problems
• normal teenager will not act that way

Step-by-step explanation

What does the research suggest about suicide risk in adolescence?

• When the emotional part of the brain is developed and the cognitive part of the brain is under developed it hampers the adolescent's ability to think behind emotional reaction to things. Which means, adolescents are highly subjective during this stage and has sensitive emotionality that makes them vulnerable to impulsivity.

What are the major risk factors for suicide? 

• History (Predisposing factors) and Exposure (Precipitating factors) are risk factors that should always be considered because there will be a likelihood that the teen will imitate the actions observed as performed by other people especially coming from the family. Exposure to stress during teenage years also pose a threat of suicide because this is the time where the emotional part of the brain is well-developed thus, susceptibility to suicide attempts is high. However, it doesn't determine that a person with this background will automatically resort to suicide, but it could be counteracted by positive experiences in other aspects of a person's life and significant support from family members could boost resiliency.
• People who are withdraw and unable to express the emotion are at risk because they lack the ability to vent out negative emotions that could also lead to mental health issues.

What kinds of things should parents and teachers be looking for in terms of identifying at-risk teens? 

• Changes in behavioral patterns include paying attention to undesirable activities that the teens engages in general. It could be social activities (peers, vices, drop in school performance) or solitary activities (when the teen starts to be quiet and withdraw from people).

What are good strategies for a response?

• open communication is always the key to effective relationships and resolution to problems because some issues arise from miscommunication and misunderstanding which is crucial for the years of teens because they still lack cognitive ability to comprehend conflicting emotions thus, support and guidance coming from significant individual is important.

What about bad strategies?

• denial of feelings is the worst thing to say to a teenager who is undergoing a rough time. No one has the right to invalidate one's feelings because what the teenager feels like anybody else is real and is really existing.