"We can only be as happy as our least happy child." ~anon
Teen Depression and Suicide
In my office in the past few years, it seems I am seeing more and more teens officially diagnosed with depression issues. In fact, depression is the number one mental health disorder in the world for both adults and teens.
Nearly three million adolescents are struggling with depression and most never get the help they need because of misconceptions and the feeling of a stigma about mental health. Unfortunately, despite effective therapies available, there is general ignorance about how emotional problems can wreck young lives.
And while no one knows whether there are actually more depressed kids today or just greater awareness of the problem, some researchers think that the stress of a high divorce rate, rising academic expectations and social pressure may be pushing more kids over the edge.
As such it causes a great risk for our teen youth. To better understand this problem i wanted to review some statistics and facts about teen depression.
- 20% of all teens will have serious depression problem in lifetime.
- >10% of teens are suffering from depression at this moment
- > 5% of teens are having serious depression issues now.
- While 5% of the general population suffers from depression over the course of one year or more, for teens it's > 8%
- More than half of the teens that suffer from depression will have a serious depression episode before they reach adulthood, those episodes last for 8 months or more.
- 15% of teens with depression develop bipolar disorder.
Teen depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Statistics can help us understand more about teen depression and it's impact on teenage suicides. Teen suicide is a major cause of death among teens, though many do not recognize suicide as a serious threat to a teenager’s well being.
Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents and teenagers!
According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), about 8 out of every 100,000 teenagers committed suicide in 2000. For every teen suicide death, experts estimate there are 10 other teen suicide attempts.
Suicidal thoughts in high school students. In a survey of high school students, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center found that:
- 1 in 5 teens had thought about suicide
- 1 in 6 teens had made plans for suicide
- More than 1 in 12 teens had attempted suicide in the last year.
- 8 out of 10 teens who commit suicide try to ask for help in some way before committing suicide, such as by seeing a doctor shortly before the suicide attempt.
- Patients who desire an early death during a serious or terminal illness are usually suffering from a treatable depressive condition.
- Studies indicate that suicide is preventable: through the early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses.
- Teen girls and boys are both at risk for suicide.
- Teen girls are more likely to attempt suicide
- Teen boys are four to five times morelikely to die by suicide.
- Over half of teen suicide deaths are inflicted by guns
Several factors increase the risk that a teenager will attempt suicide:
- Depression or feelings of loneliness or helplessness
- Alcohol or drug addiction
- A family history of abuse, suicide, or violence
- Previous suicide attempts: almost half of teens who commit suicide had attempted suicide previously.
- A recent loss such as a death, break-up, or parents’ divorce Illness or disability
- Stress over school, relationships, performance expectations, etc.
- Fear of ridicule for getting help for problems
- Being bullied or being a bully
- Exposure to other teens committing suicide, such as at school or in the media
- Access to firearms or other lethal objects
- A belief that suicide is noble
90% of people who attempt or commit suicide suffer from a mental illness, such as:
- Depression, which causes a teen to feel sad, lonely, withdrawn, and unable to accomplish simple tasks.
- Bipolar disorder, where a teen alternates between periods of depression and mania, characterized by exuberance, insomnia, irritability, and inability to concentrate.
- Schizophrenia, a complicated condition where a teen has hallucinations or distorted perceptions of reality.
- Alcoholism or drug addiction, especially when combined with another mental health disorder; 20 to 50% of suicide attempts are related to drug or alcohol use.
What can parents and friends do to reduce the risk of teen depression?
The Philosophy of SADD
SADD was founded on the simple philosophy that young people, empowered to help each other, are the most effective force in prevention. For more than a quarter-century, SADD has been recognized as a national leader in alcohol and drug education and prevention. What began as a small-town, grass-roots response to the tragedy of two impaired driving crashes and the resulting deaths of two teenage students quickly grew to become a nationwide organization fueled by millions of young people across the country and around the world.
Through the efforts of SADD and similar organizations and with changes in government policy and law, the number of teen alcohol-related traffic crashes has been reduced by almost 60 percent.
SADD’s "Contract for Life" has become part of the vernacular. At the same time, the world of teenagers has become more complex, and substance abuse, violence, HIV/AIDS, and suicide are also threats to teens’ well-being. With its expansion of focus to include other destructive decisions, SADD is the premier youth-based education and prevention organization in America and maintains the ability to play a leading role in effective, evidence-based prevention programming.
SADD Opening Lines - to speak with your teens about difficult topics, tips and advice:
The Value of SADD
Information Dissemination and Access to Local CommunitiesWith thousands of chapters nationwide and a strong network of state coordinators and school-based advisors, SADD is uniquely positioned to help young people with the growing threats to their health, happiness, and safety. Through their campaigns and activities, SADD chapters influence millions of people in schools, families, local community organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and the media. As an active, established youth program, SADD reaches into more schools and touches more young people for longer periods of time than does any other program.
Integration of Prevention Principles
In this era of science-based prevention and increased accountability, SADD is continuously strengthening and documenting the effectiveness of its activities and programming. Its strong name recognition and expansive chapter base put SADD at an unparalleled advantage to take a leadership role in implementing model prevention practices in local communities across the country.
Much of the research literature available about effective prevention programming details a framework of science-based principles that SADD embraces. One of the foremost principles of prevention consistently cited is positive youth development, the very essence of SADD.
Through SADD chapters, young people of all ages and backgrounds become skilled, educated agents for youth initiatives developed by local, state, and national organizations working to promote youth safety and health. SADD students are valued as contributing members of their communities. Using the array of resources available in their cities and states, SADD students seek out and connect their school communities to information, ideas, educational materials and funding, training, and program opportunities.
SADD contains elements of scientifically grounded prevention principles recognized and endorsed by NIDA (National Institute for Drug Abuse), CSAP (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention), CAPT (Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies), and NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health). As a youth-based prevention organization that begins with and evolves from local-level efforts, SADD is all of the following.
Age appropriate. SADD’s programming is developmentally appropriate for the age ranges of the student population it serves. SADD’s primary target audience is middle and high school students. SADD’s activities and fund-raisers can be customized for use by all students, including students in college and in elementary school.
Culturally appropriate. SADD offers all youth the opportunity to get involved and lead prevention initiatives in their individual communities. With guidance from the adult advisor and assessment tools provided by SADD National, SADD students determine program needs for their communities and implement strategies that mirror the cultural values of the target youth population in their localities.
Long-term. SADD is available for students throughout their school career, starting in sixth grade and continuing through college. SADD chapters also exist in some elementary schools across the country, and older SADD students serve as mentors for younger children.
Cost effective. SADD is free to all those who want to join. Fund-raising, grants, and donations pay for all programming.
Strong in dissemination capability. With thousands of chapters nationwide, SADD is able to reach millions of youth across the country with prevention messages and programming. The activities of SADD chapters affect school populations, parents, local community organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and the media.
An important element in prevention theory is determining how risk and resiliency factors unify the description of community need and predict a framework for programming.[1] Risk factors increase vulnerability to substance abuse. Resiliency factors combat risk factors.
According to the research, prevention programs must be designed to improve resiliency and protective factors and to move toward reducing known risk factors.[2] SADD’s prevention strategies reflect these beliefs and can be used to counter the following risk factors.[3]
College Contract for Life: download and review with your college friends, daughter:
Family-Based Risk Factors
- Family history of alcoholism and/or other drug use
- Parents involving youths in the parents’ use or misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs (e.g., "Light my cigarette," "Get me a beer")
- Unclear expectations of behavior, lack of monitoring and supervision, inconsistent or harsh discipline, lack of bonding and caring, and conflict between parents/caregivers
- Encouraging or ignoring teen use of alcohol and other drugs
- Parent/caregiver’s use or abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs
Individual–Based Risk Factors
- First use of any substance during early teen years
- Greater influence by and reliance on peers, rather than parents, for advice and guidance
- Friends who use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
School-Based Risk Factors
- School policies, rules, and regulations not defined or enforced uniformly
- Transitions between schools (e.g., from elementary school to middle school or from middle school to high school or from high school to college)
Community-Based Risk Factors
- Lack of opportunities for youth to become involved with the community
- Easy availability of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
- Community attitudes, practices, policies, or laws favoring substance use and misuse
Concurrently, SADD tailors prevention efforts to foster youth resiliency by:
- Targeting all forms of drug use
- Promoting skills to resist drug offers
- Building social competency skills
- Promoting normative education designed to correct students’ misperceptions about their peers’ drug use
- Including a strong parent component
- Reaching out to all diverse populations, including children with behavior problems or learning disabilities
- Providing interactive methods, such as peer discussion groups
- Launching youth media campaigns
- Promoting youth health and safety policy changes.
For more info: sadd.org
“Just say no” prevents teenage pregnancy the way ‘have a nice day’ cures chronic depression." ~ anon
