About Teen suicide
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TEENAGE AND ADULT DEPRESSION
Depression in teens can look very different from depression in adults. The negative effects of teenage depression go far beyond a melancholy mood. Many rebellious and unhealthy behaviors or attitudes in teenagers are actually indications of depression. The following symptoms of depression are more common in teenagers than in their adult counterparts.
- Irritable or angry mood - Irritability, rather than sadness, is often the predominant mood in depressed teens. A depressed teenager may be grumpy, hostile, easily frustrated, or prone to angry outbursts.
- Unexplained aches and pains - Depressed teens frequently complain about physical ailments such as headaches or stomachaches. If a thorough physical exam does not reveal a medical cause, these aches and pains may indicate depression.
- Extreme sensitivity to criticism - Depressed teens are plagued by feelings of worthlessness making them extremely vulnerable to criticism, rejection, and failure. This is a particular problem for "over-achievers."
- Withdrawing from some, but not all people - While adults tend to isolate themselves when depressed, teenagers usually maintain some friendships. However, teens with depression may socialize less than before, pull away from their parents, or start hanging out with a different crowd.
SUICIDE WARNING SIGNS IN DEPRESSED TEENS
- Talking or joking about committing suicide
- Saying things like, “I’d be better off dead,” “I wish I could disappear forever,” or “There’s no way out.”
- Speaking positively about death or romanticizing dying (“If I died, people might love me more”)
- Writing stories and poems about death, dying, or suicide
- Engaging in reckless behavior or having a lot of accidents resulting in injury
- Giving away prized possessions
- Saying goodbye to friends and family as if for the last time
- Seeking out weapons, pills, or other ways to kill themselves
SUICIDE LOSS SUPPORT: WE'VE GOT YOU
10 things we know to be true
You are not alone.
Grief can feel very isolating, but you don't have to walk this journey alone. We've been down the road you're traveling, and we are here for you.
You will NOT always feel this much pain.
As time passes, the hurt you feel now will change. We know from experience that your emotional pain will subside and soften with time. It won't always feel like it does right now.
Most people who die by suicide do not want to die. They want their pain to end.
Whatever pain brought our loved ones to end their lives, it inhibited them from thinking clearly and from fully comprehending the heartbreak their suicides would cause.
Suicide is the "perfect storm" event.
Suicide is rarely the result of just one person, conversation, or event. It usually involves multiple, complex factors that culminate in a "perfect storm."
You can’t prevent what you can’t predict.
There was no way you could have known it would happen that very day, at that precise moment. You cannot control the thoughts and actions of others.
Eventually, the questions will cease to be so all encompassing.
"Why?" "What if?" Most of us who have experienced suicide loss wrestle with these and other questions for a long time. This is normal. It helps us to learn enough "to suffice," to process our thoughts so that we can eventually find peace.
What you tell yourself matters.
How you talk to yourself about what happened can shape the experience of your grief journey. Trust what you know about your loved one, and choose to tell yourself the story that best helps you heal.
Suicide is not a reflection of love.
People who die by suicide may have believed they were a burden to the people they loved. They thought that their families would be better off without them. Whereas we know this to be untrue, our loved ones could not see clearly through the fog of their emotional pain.
How you cope with this is up to you.
You didn't choose for this to happen to you, but you do get to decide how to respond to it. You have a say in how you heal.
Love never ends.
When your loved one died, the love you shared didn't just stop. Your relationship continues. Keep the memories alive in all that you do.
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