Teen suicide, and causes

The statistics are alarming. The reality is sad. Teen suicide is on the rise and we need to understand what causes can effect this behavior.

I do not have all the answers because I am not that smart. I simply want to challenge us to think about what some of those reasons may be. Can we stop people from self murder, certainly not all can be. Can we be better equipped to help teens if we know some of those causes? I think we can, over the next few days I am going to share on some of those issues.

Today I am going to look at isolation and alienation from caring adults in schools and in homes. Have you ever felt isolated, singled out and set aside? If you were to go and visit a hospital patient that is in isolation, you would likely be denied. The goal of putting a person in isolation is to prevent them from being around others so that the disease/sickness will not spread. The same thing happens with some teens.

These teens are unable to have access to adults who care. They feel alone, forgotten and never heard. Alienation implies that teens are detached from any connection with adults. To think in medical terms if a person has a detached ligament then it becomes useless. It loses its purpose.

When a teen becomes isolated and alienated from adults that care it can become hopeless, they feel useless and unimportant. Every person needs a safe place to land, a place where they can share with someone how they feel. They are looking for someone that can help to make a difference and will accept them and not judge them for how they feel.

Have you ever been around a teen or an adult for that matter that loses it? It seems like they are out of control with their actions or reactions. We often look at that behavior and make a judgement about people. Maybe their behavior is a result of pent up frustration with not having anyone to talk to. If this condition, situation persists sadly self abuse of suicide can result.

Are our schools a place where teens feel like they are listened to by caring adults? If you ask the adults they may say yes. What is most important though is what do the students say? Do they feel like they are heard?

What about in their homes? Do parents think they have an atmosphere where kids are heard? More importantly do the teens feel like they are really heard? Do they feel like they have more than five minutes of their parents time?

Lets be much better at listening and valuing others thoughts and concerns. I hope that we will take the time to invest in our listening skills. There is a big difference between hearing and listening. There is also a big difference between saying you care and doing something practical to show you do.