in a teen, ask them if she or he is considering suicide. Don’t avoid the subject or wait for the teen to come to you. It is most necessary to be alert to a teen’s feelings. The severity of the problem should be judged from the teen’s perception, not by adult standards. If a teen perceives something as a problem, then it is a problem for him or her.In the addition to helpful strategies in dealing with teens and suicide, modeling healthy behavior and positive problem-solving approaches will demonstrate to teens how adults can be models for young people by dealing with their stress in a constructive manner. Use of television shows, films, newspaper articles and other media as a trigger for a discussion of effective ways to deal with stress and depression are also practical. Lastly, provide opportunities for group support. Teens sharing problems with other teens that help find solutions can be beneficial (http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Sociology/suicide.htm). Teen suicide is clearly one of the more rapidly growing causes of death for young people today. It is not an infrequent occurrence and can definitely be prevented with the help of proper treatment and action. Depression, pressures in life in general, and the greater access to lethal weapons and drugs are some of the major causes and reasons of suicide. They are all preventable however, in more ways than one. Greta was a firm believer in the age-old saying that sometimes the best way to overcome something is to understand it. Adults need to take the possibility of teen suicide seriously even if their community has not experienced one. Teen depression and thoughts of suicide are more common than many adults assume and there are as many as fifty to one hundred suicide attempts for every young person who actually takes his or her own life. The loving concern of today’s busy parent or the help of a caring friend is important in helping a teen because ...
