Top 4 Reasons Today's Youth is Suicidal

     

                                                     Random thought.
                                                                                 Suicide is not just on TV.

             Life has officially become a real Romeo and Juliet story. Thoughts like "I can't have what I want” or “Things aren't going my way so I will kill myself" directly influence the attitude of so many teenagers or young adults born between 1994-2005, also known as Generation Z.

             While suicide has always been a real problem in the world, the frequency of Gen Z's suicide attempts has been increasing drastically. According to an article from Newsweek, "between 2005 and 2017, the rate of 12 to 17 year-olds who experienced a major depressive episode... rose by 52%." The worst part is that it doesn't look like it's going to get better any time soon.


So what is suicide?
Suicide is taking your own life. Several factors come into play when someone is contemplating killing themselves. Besides physical stressors and hardships, we have:

1. Mental illness
             Mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders have been identified to be some of the most common causes of suicidal tendencies. The bottom line for any mental illness is that they alter the way you think and act. Some people either find it difficult to live in pain and they figure that ending their life is the best way to go about it. Others may not have a reason that everyone else is able to understand; they just have a voice telling them that killing themselves is what they need to do.

2. Low self esteem

           Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me... This may be the biggest lie that anyone could ever tell. I understand that for a lot of us it depends mostly on WHO is saying the hurtful things but at the end of the day words hurt MORE than sticks and stones. Anything that causes physical pain is temporary. Cuts heal. The Leggo you stepped on that completely threw you off balance and made you want to curse the heavens - that pain fades away in a few minutes. However, if you're always being told that you are worthless, ugly, too fat, or too skinny, you're going to find it extremely difficult to think of yourself in any other way. After years of having a negative self-image drilled into your head, you can't see anything else. No number of compliments from anybody will make you feel better long-term because you won’t believe it. Nothing you do will make you feel better.

           So, what do people turn to? Self-harm and attempted suicides; attempted being the key word. People with low self-esteem don't realize that people actually love and care about them. If there's someone around, if someone walks in and realizes there's an empty bottle of prescription medicine that was just refilled yesterday, or notices a pool of blood, they're either going to try and help you or they're calling for help.

3. Technology

               Here's where Gen Z comes back into play. Gen Z is the age of technology: the generation where everyone is connected but we can't communicate outside of the screen. We have apps like Rabbit that allow us all be in a chat room and watch a movie together without leaving the comfort of our own homes. There's no more going to the movies as a group, or even going to each other’s houses. We meet significant others on social sites like Tinder, Bumble, HER, Grinder and have hours of "conversation" through texts and Snaps, but then we get to dinner and it’s awkward.

               In being connected with the whole world through the internet, we've become disconnected to the world right outside our front door. It's easier to communicate with messages because there are no awkward silences, no eye contact, no focus. Your attention does not have to be directed on the one person or the group of people you're with. You can text, play a video game, listen to music... literally anything you can think of can be done simultaneously while messaging, the same cannot be said for an in-person meet. The saddest part is that even when meeting someone in-person, most of the conversation is STILL through messages. We constantly ignore each other to look at our phones. Being around people makes us anxious and afraid and we don't like that feeling.

4. Sensitivity
             This one will tie numbers 2&3 together. Why did I have so many friends growing up that would cut themselves or swallow pills to try and die? For us in Gen Z, I strongly believe that our sensitivity plays a big part. Whether it be to promote personal identity or exist somewhere in complete anonymity, we practically live on the internet. In having the option to be anonymous or pretend to be someone else entirely, people feel empowered. They no longer carry the same compassion or filter they would generally have with a person that is right in front of them.

             There are internet trolls EVERYWHERE! They stalk your page and all they want to do is criticize you. Although some may be brave/mean enough to do so in-person, most of them hide behind their keyboards and insult the world because they do not fear the repercussions. They don't have to worry about getting punched in the mouth for saying something offensive or rude. Because we spend so much time inside and online, a lot of us do not know how to react to these situations. Even more of us believe everything that these trolls say about us and get really butthurt.

             I can't lie, I am a very strong-willed person and I do love myself. Sometimes, people just say some messed up things that, at the end of the day, make me question my self-worth, but that's me overthinking and being too sensitive. What we need to remember is that these people live to bring you down. They are irrelevant and everything they say should be taken with a grain of salt.

            All of the aforementioned things play a big role in a person’s ultimate decision to take their life. All I can say is, even if you think you're alone, you're not. You are loved and perfect the way you are. At the end of the day, you need to love and take care of yourself and each other. Remember, there's always another way.



Until next time.




                            -LocaSmiles :D






National Suicide Prevention Lifeline



Call 1-800-273-8255


Available 24 hours everyday