Suicide is an extremely serious issue in the United States. It has claimed millions of lives over time and had been a detriment to our society. Sadly, people from a variety of ages have been resulting to the unfortunate choice of ending their own life. Suicide takes the lives of more than 30,000 Americans every year. The death toll is immense, but the emotional toll on the victim’s loved ones is even greater. Suicide does not only effect the one who commits the deed but also those around them. Suicide is not the answer to the problems that life throws at us. Suicide seems to have become an epidemic to our nation. Now, every 18 minutes, another life is lost to suicide. Honestly, what has our world come to? We are throwing the greatest gift of all time out the window. And now children are picking up the unfortunate trend. Children! The youth of our country are making irreversible decisions when they have not even lived their lives yet. What happened to the saying, Live each day like it’s your last? These suicidal children are not living each day like it’s their last; they are making it their last. With this in mind, it has been proven that children are more impulsive than adults and thus less likely to go through a cool-down period before taking drastic action. One out of four of the survivors said that less than five minutes passed between their decision to commit suicide and the actual attempt. Less than five minutes passed, only five minutes. Children are making these decisions almost instantaneously. No true thinking could have actually occurred before this terrible endeavor was attempted. Similarly, it has also been proven that kids use suicide to call for attention to their problems without realizing the irreversible consequences. It’s sad, but children really don’t seem to understand the full concept of suicide and won’t truly understand what they are doing until it is too late.

To start, suicide is a very complicated thing to interpret. It’s sad and makes you wonder, why? What would bring any person to destroy themselves, preventing themselves from living their life to the fullest? In this case, there are reasons a person would be driven to commit such a scarring deed. Depression is the leading cause of suicide. When depression strikes, there is an immediate change in a person’s character and well-being. The most deeply affected are people ages 15-24. These people suffer the highest rate of depression and suicide, and unfortunately, these people are least likely to seek outside help to handle their problems. People with depression seem to go through this showing signs such as losing interest in hobbies, school, and family; along with feeling blue, rebellious, and angered. In addition to depression being a trigger for suicidal thoughts, a person who has been bullied may become suicidal as well. Teens especially, are effected greatly by bullying. Bullying has become a plague in our schools and has led to some dreadful loss in the student body. People who have been degraded, harassed, humiliated, left out, or threatened may feel like there is nowhere to turn. They may feel that the only solution to stop the pain is to end their own life so they cannot be hurt any longer. A bullying victim may think that they are not appreciated and are worthless; hence, their decision to make others lives better by cutting their own out of the picture. Sorry to say, a lot of the time, bulling does not cease even with the school anti-bullying programs. These victims may feel trapped in their lives because nobody is stepping up to stop the ongoing issue that is destroying their self-esteem. Similarly, people may be driven to consider suicide because of a school or personal crisis. Some teens become suicidal after a long period of time filled with stress over tests, homework, colleges, popularity, and fitting in. School struggles are very difficult to handle because they are inevitable. Every day, the student has to walk back into the situation and environment that they are no longer feeling successful or productive. Also, households are pushing their children to set high standards for themselves, which is great, until they don’t achieve them. It has been proven that setting high standards and not achieving them as well as family pressures with overly high expectations can lead a teen to become suicidal. The student feels that they are not good enough for their family. They feel like they have disappointed those who they care about and that they will be judged and looked down upon. As sad as it is, teens tend to feel like they are unworthy to be living in home of such successful people, especially when they set the bar high. They feel like they don’t belong and the household would be better off without the less-successful teen holding them back. Equally important, the signs of potential suicide are very important to keep an eye out for in those you care about. There are a variety of different signs that could be shown. Don’t ever brush off these signs as just wanting attention; they could be a person’s cry for help. The most obvious sign is when the suicidal person begins talking and asking about death. At this point, the person needs to be confronted and questioned on why they would be thinking in such a way. The person may also begin making final wishes for their friends and family. This is when major action needs to be taken. The family of the suicidal person needs to get immediate help to avoid any tragic occurrence. Additionally, the actions of the suicidal person are also necessary to take note of. A person may begin to withdraw from their friends and family. This detached behavior needs to be monitored closely. Who knows what a person could do with so much time alone? There is a major sign of potential suicide that absolutely, cannot be ignored. Once a person starts to give away personal belongings with sentimental value attached to them, they are dangerously close to their suicide attempt. Usually when a suicidal person gives away their belongings, they want you to have something to remember them by.

As a start, the likelihood of people committing suicide varies but there are different kinds of people who are more likely to commit suicide. For instance, gay teens are more likely to commit suicide when compared to the average straight person. As a matter of fact, gay youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. There are many judgmental people out in society, many who do not support gay relationships. The discrimination that this group of people receives is unnecessary and hurtful. Many of these homosexual people are feeling pressured by society to be like everybody else. They feel there is no escape from the disapproving people who taunt and tease. Likewise, suicide is also very high in teens that are teased about their weight. Nowadays, teens are particularly sensitive about how they look to their peers. The modern day student body has become obsessed with the idea of the perfect self image. Teens are more concerned than ever on how they look to others. And when the perfect self image doesn’t pull through, the teasing begins. Teased kids begin to hate their bodies and tend to have low self-esteem. They become extremely self-conscious and become afraid to go out because they are worried they will be made fun of. Sadly though, the worst damage is not done by a student’s peers, but by their own family members. Teens may be able to brush off and ignore the rude comments made by their peers but when their own family begins throwing insults, they are absolutely crushed. These harsh comments coming from the teen’s family are the most painful because your home is supposed to be your safe haven from the world, but when the people in your home hurt you as much as the rest of the world, what other choice are teens given. They feel so degraded by their family members because they are the people who know them best, so the insults are believed and taken personally. It’s unfortunately one of the most terrible truths, the fact that any insult that comes from those you love most, hurts the most.

To begin, there are not many effective solutions to prevent suicide. There are a variety of ideas but the only proven way to prevent suicide is to treat depression and other emotional disorders. That is the only true way to prevent suicide because usually, the main causes of the attempts are backed up by previous diagnosed issues. But there are always other ideas to at least help with the suicidal thoughts to minimize the potential deaths. Hotlines are provided for those who have suicidal thoughts to discuss problems. Luckily, the trained volunteers are very sympathetic and advise their callers and refer them for treatment. Overall, the prevention for suicide is sadly, not always effective but for those who it has benefited; it’s literally a life saver.

All in all, the concept of suicide is a lose-lose situation. People need to be made aware of the signs and most of all, the consequences. Suicide is an extreme issue in our modern day society and it needs to be stopped. No matter what, everybody is affected by suicide. Don’t kill when you feel like quitting, kill the quitting.