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Suicide rate amongst youth
Suicide among the youth
Suicide among the youth
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In his new book “Girls on the Edge” Dr. Sax argues that todays teens look confident on the outside but have a dangerously fragile sense of self. According to “Girls on the Edge”, he claims that average teenage girl today is more anxious than average girl admitted to a psychiatric treatment 50 years ago. He also insists that more female teens are suffering anxiety than male. The article Dr. Leonard Sax states that: “More than one in five girls are cutting herself and more than one in four high-school girls is binge drinking. Today, one in eight females in the US take anti-depressants.” According to the research above, there is an enormous increase in anxiety and depression among girls and young women. The author goes on to conclude that
girls that are striving for success are made fun of and they are the ones suffering because they don’t fit in to the society. “These girls believe it’s a lifestyle choice, not a pathology.” I believe that this issue is happening in Macau. In my social media, I’ve seen posts of female friends carving herself on her inner thigh. Surprisingly I have also noticed that my female friend’s portrait was more artificial and modified, such as using filters, skin whitening and enlarged eyes. While this is not really the case with my male friends, I believe this issue is happening because of the influence social globalization and media. Media have a strong influence on young teenagers these days, female celebrities with astonishing looks can influence young teenage girls. Young teenage girl desires to look just like celebrities by modifying their own pictures, so they would look as attractive. Most of the time, the intention of this is to bring attention from males and hopefully attract boys. Celebrities have a powerful influence on teenagers with exposed outfits. Teenage girls see that female celebrities are wearing revealing outfits. They think it is alright to do the same, but it really isn’t. I believe that social globalization and the media including celebrities is what shape the male and female teenagers.
Throughout her book Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist, describes the behaviors and relationships of adolescent teen girls. She explores the issues that most of her patients have in common: parents and divorce, depression, weight, drugs, alcohol, violence, and sex. Pipher provides examples of girls who had suffered from each category, and ends with a generalization that connects each situation to a deeper meaning. Although parents and daughters are somewhat to blame in each occasion, Pipher holds the corrupt modern culture of western society accountable. She believes that the idealized image of girls that the media puts out is the root of most adolescent insecurities. In Reviving Ophelia, Pipher draws attention to the increasing need for female teen awareness and incorporates the methods she suggests to the struggling families.
In this book therapist Mary Pipher writes about her experiences at work with adolescent girls. It is intended to make the reader aware of the perils of being a teenager in today's sexualized and media-saturated culture. She talks about how this new and more hostile environment affects adolescent girls' emotional growth and development, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself while trying to fit in with peers. For the most part this book is Dr. Pipher's attempt to reach out to adolescents, as well as their parents and teachers, and tell them that this "problem without a name" is not a death sentence but rather a journey to adulthood, and tells adults how to help these impressionable young girls through what might be the most trying period of their lives.
Adolescence is the time of development and mental advancement that happens between the onset of puberty and the fulfillment of physical and emotional development. Despite the fact that young ladies experience more dramatic physical change throughout adolescence than do young men, they have a tendency to achieve puberty prior and take less time to achieve development. Immaturity in girls start around the age of eleven and proceeds through about age sixteen. In youthful men, the same period starts about the age of thirteen and proceeds through about age eighteen. After about age fourteen, guys are,normal, heavier and taller than females. The motion picture film Thirteen, directed by Catherine Hardwicke introduces a correct and important point of view on the post-millennial adolescent experience and also displays many issues teens face in today’s society such as peer pressure, teenage sexuality, and drug use,
This book is trying to show the struggle that many young girls experience and the reasons to why the adolescence years to prove to be such a period of, underachievement, anger, and pain in the lives of girls who can be bright and talented girls. A few of Mary Piphers points that she stresses throughout the book are, girls today are much more distressed, anxious, and uncomfortable than before. The society in which they are coming of age is more dangerous, sexualized, and media saturated, the culture is indeed a girl poisoning one.
This film contains some classic examples of the kinds of real life issues adolescents deal with. Issues such as popularity, peer relationships, family/sibling relationships, sex, and struggles with identity are all addressed in this ninety-minute film.
The documentary that I viewed was called Dark Girls (Directors: Bill Duke & D. Channsin Berry, 2011). The focus was based on colorism in the African- American community and how it has impacted young girls and women. The directors provided a platform that explored the issue starting with the history of African- American culture down to the aspect of how we would need to begin to heal and overcome this prejudice.
In the short story, "The Girl Who Was Plugged In", James Tiptree creates a society where there is no official advertising. The only form of advertisement is the use of celebrities or "remotes", who are forced to use specific products, to entice the general public into purchasing them. The story focuses on on a single character, known as Philadelphia Burke, who is transformed from her natural rancid state, as described by the narrator, into a goddess like figure that Tiptree's society holds as the epitome of beauty. P. Burke, having been a wretched being for seventeen years of her life, is given the chance to become a remote and through a new body live the life that she has always dreamed of. Using the character P. Burke, Tiptree highlights
Nevertheless, the girl screeching in horror of her own reflection is not the only teen, who talks about, each and everything they despise about themselves. Furthermore, this girl relates to Charlotte, in the book Girl In Pieces, which is about a young 17-year old girl that was so insecure that the cuts that were imprinted on her wrist, she was determined to hide them. She made such an effort to look somewhat normal that she had to wear long-sleeves even when it was scorching hot outside. She was so insecure about herself, which caused her to suffer on the inside. This is the problem, teens suffering because of their insecurities.
Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Children may be more fearful of the world around them. Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. If a boy was weak, skinny or a different race he would be bullied. 1 out of 4 boys are bullied in schools. Young men think there is no one there to converse with or hear you out in light of the fact that they are embarrassed to request for help. They think people will judge them and are insecure with themselves. Fewer than 50 percent of boys and men with mental health challenges seek help. This leads to drinking, doing drugs, and suicide. By age 12, 34 percent of boys have started drinking. The average boys tries drugs at age 13. 1 in 4 boys binge drink (consume 5 or more drinks in a row). According to the Centers for Disease Control, men are more likely to drink to excess than women, leading to “higher rates of alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations.” Everyday 3 or more boys commit suicide. For boys, suicide is the third leading cause of death. Studies have shown that “males take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of females and comprise approximately 80 percent of all suicides and suicide attempts among women are estimated to be three to four times higher than that of their male
There is an escalating problem that is becoming more prominent among adolescent society involving the use of anti-depressant medication and its increased risk of suicidal tendencies. Studies show that more Americans are turning to antidepressants and are not informed of the irreversible dangers that are associated with taking them. Antidepressants possess a variety of different side effects just like other medications, however, there is a growing concern regarding the increasing rate of suicides among adolescent teens. Especially in today’s society, there is an alarming increase in influences that the media places upon the younger generations living in America. Antidepressant use in this age group should include high monitoring of suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and should include an increased effort to raising awareness of this issue.
People constantly overlook the severity of depression, more importantly, major teen depression, which presents a legitimate obstacle in society. The intensity of teen depression results from society’s general lack of acknowledgement of the rising affair. In 2012, “28.5% of teens were depressed” and 15.8% of teens contemplated the option of suicide (Vidourek 1 par. 1), due to their major depression going unnoticed or untreated for. Even teenagers themselves often ignore their depression or remain in denial because neither them nor anyone else recognizes the signs. “A sudden change in behavior is a main sign of someone being depressed, which could lead to having suicidal thoughts,” stated Pam Farkas, a clinical social worker in California (Aguilar 1 par. 8). The warning signs and risk factors of teen depression include behavioral issues, social withdrawal, and inadequate interest in activities (Adolescents and Clinical Depression 2 par. 3), yet the unawareness of these signs does not allow professional medical attention to intercede. Deaths, illnesses, rejection, relationship issues, and disappointment present passages down the negative path of teen depression, but treatments, such as psychotherapy, intervention programs, and antidepressants express ways to subdue this major problem. Knowledge of the increasing dilemma needs to circulate, in order to promote stable teen lives in the present and future world. Understanding major teen depression, the events and incidents that lead to depression, and how to overcome the problem will lead to a decrease in major teen depression and its growing issue in society.
Teenage Depression. Everywhere you look these two words appear together as one, in newspapers and magazines, as well as in scholarly reports. Teenage depression is one of today's "hot topics" this among other teenage mental health problems, has been brought to the forefront of public consciousness in recent years after several incidents involving school shootings (CQ 595). The environment that teens grow up in today is less supportive and more demanding than it was twenty years ago. Not only are the numbers of depressed teens rising, but children are also being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. Studies have found that, "There is an estimated 1.5-3 million American children and adolescents who suffer from depression, a condition unrecognized in children until about 20 years ago" (CQR 595). This increase in depression is due to social factors that teenagers have to deal with everyday. A recent study found that, "About five percent of teenagers have major depression at any one time. Depression can be very impairing, not only for the affected teen, but also for his or her family-and too often, if not addressed, depression can lead to substance abuse or more tragic events" (NAMI.org). Gender roles and other societal factors including the pressures on girls to look and act a certain way, the pressures on boys to suppress their emotions and put on a tough front and the pressures on both sexes to do well in school and succeed, all contribute to depression in teens today. Depression is a growing problem which crosses gender lines and one that needs to be dealt with with more than just medication.
The risk of social anxiety is higher among teens and women because of the constant competition based off of appearance and material objects. Due to the high expectation on girls in terms of appearance and weight, mental health issues such as anxiety have a significant impact on them. Leading in some cases to unfortunate tragic endings. There have been more then 30,000 suicide death in the united states , that are linked to the internet, more specifically social media.
Bauman, Lawrence. The Ten Most Troublesome Teen-age Problems and How to Solve Them. New York: Citadel Press, 1997.
Anxiety has a main definition; a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease. Although, it has its single definition, each person diagnosed with anxiety has different symptoms. With that, some have more severe cases of the actual diagnosis. It has been noted that anxiety has had an increase in teens recently. In the last 30 years, the statistics for anxiety in fifteen to sixteen year olds have doubled for both girls and boys (“Increased Levels of Anxiety…” 1). It is said, “in societal moments like the one we are in…it often feels as if ours is the Age of Anxiety”(Henig 1). Anxiety affects teenagers profusely because the emotions of a teenager are more vulnerable than those of an adult. The brain of a teenager is not fully developed and the stress put on teenagers to start putting their life together takes a toll on their emotions. The daily life and activities are interfered with by anxiety when the amount of stress put on a teenager becomes unbearable. Unfortunately, the effects of anxiety become so intense that the mental health is eventually toyed with. So many different components of life contribute to anxiety and cannot be prevented.