Self-Injury Among Youth on the Rise

Typing seems so much easier than talking, and sometimes we take notice to things too late. "Life anit worth the pain" said 17-year old Ashley Duncan on her Tumbler website before she died by suicide.
On January 30, 2012 Houston teen, Ashley posted pictures of a gun and bullets on Twitter before walking to a reservoir near the intersection of Braes Forest Drive and Portal Drive with a gun and shot herself. She didn't attend school that day instead she posted on her Twitter, "I finally got a gun".

On her Twitter and Tumbler page the teen had been posting dark things, "So I’m asking why it can’t be my choice to die now? ... I'm miserable". With over 2000 friends on both Social Networks, no one suspected anything. However, her potential "cry for help" got likes and reposts without anyone suspecting any sign of potential tragedy. “She was a social butterfly, she always had a smile on her face, just a bright spirit, really smart, beautiful, and just a kind-hearted person everyone loved her and she loves everyone back” expressed her friend Ronald.

Ashley and Ronald have been friends since the sixth grade, and he never suspected anything wrong. “Sometimes she would say she was tired, and when I asked her what was wrong she would smile and tell me everything was okay”.  After asking him what he would suggest for others to do when they see random rants on social networks, he suggested that they reach out and tell someone. “I suggest everyone less text more talk so no one feels this again”.

Suicide is the act of taking one’s own life on purpose. People who try to commits suicide are often trying to get away from a life situation that seems impossible to deal with. According to suicide.org, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. An increasing number of teens are engaging in self-injury. Many teens indicate they engage in self-injury activities to distract themselves from their problems and emotional pain. “Young people are particularly vulnerable to depression,” said Kevin Caruso, executive director of Suicide.org. “And untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide. So we need to do all that we can to reach these young people who are suicidal and ensure that they receive immediate, effectual treatment as well as long-term loving, caring support.”

Dr. Joseph M, Carver, PhD said, “That thoughts of preferring to be dead rather than alive, are thoughts one step above having suicidal thoughts. When we become depressed, our brain torments us with a variety of horrible thoughts”.  As stated in Mental Health American (MHA), teen depression is increasing at an alarming rate. Depression can be difficult to diagnose in teens because adults may expect teens to act moody. It is very important that depressed teens receive professional treatment. Each year, almost 5,000 young people, kill themselves. The rate of suicide has nearly tripled since 1960. Suicidal adolescents may view a temporary situation as a permanent condition, as said on MHA. However, Social Networking is affecting communications because more people prefer to type how they feel rather than talk. The internet has changed the way we communicate in our daily lives; everything we need to know is assessable within minutes.

“Social networking is a different way to socialize”, states Psychology Professor Amanda Pressman.  When on these social websites you can post anything you would like whether it is song lyrics, pictures, to suicide gestures without being taken too serious. “You can’t tell if a person is serious or not, you can’t determine a person’s tone, expression, or sense of seriousness from a social network” says Pressman. When asked what could be done to take a step at preventing suicide, Pressman suggested public service media wise, with careful handling on how the suicide news is distributed because of cluster suicides. Cluster suicide is a chain of completed suicides, usually among adolescents, in a discrete period of time and area, which have a ‘contagious’ element. “You want to break beyond “I’m fine”, you can’t see the social cues, face to face, people is exaggerating, today on the internet.” Pressman also says, “Parents should be connected to their kids, and spend time with their kids”.

 Clinical Psychologist Jeff Gardere explains to Julie Chen, on the Early Show, in 2008 how young people can be susceptible to suicide, especially when linked by the Internet or other factors. “There are no boundaries because of the internet and media. A lot of these kids are putting entries in before they die; certainly parents should know what’s going on these websites, kids are talking to one another and not their parents, glorifying their death and getting attention they wasn’t getting when they were alive Parents should be more involved in their children lives,” Gardere states.