Teen Suicide and Depression Skyrocketing
This is a major problem and it is just beginning to get noticed. Teen depression and teen suicide rates are skyrocketing. When children see suicide as a solution to a problem, that is a huge problem. I have seen it myself working in the emergency room. Sometimes it is impulsive behavior in the form of taking a handful of pills. One big problem is that we think an act of suicide, whether successful or not, is an impulsive event. It’s an act of impulse. We know that we don’t get good impulse control until we get to the age of around 22 to 25 years of age.
What we are seeing is an increasing isolation due to a huge social experiment. That of social media. We are seeing more interaction on cell phones rather than face to face relationships and support systems. Social isolation is a problem. Coupled with bullying and a sense of not belonging is a powerful trifecta that leaves teens feeling lonely, depressed and saddled with low self esteem. It leaves them with few options.
Rising rates of youth suicide and psychiatric disorders come as the health care system has started to focus on the effect of loneliness on mental and physical health. Young people, seemingly the most connected of all through social media, are being hit hard, San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge reported in a study in March.
Teens whose face time with friends is mostly on their phones are the loneliest of all, but even those who mix real-world socializing with social media still are increasingly isolated, Twenge found. The share of high school seniors who said they often felt lonely increased from 26% in 2012 to 39% in 2017.
An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll out today places much of the blame for teen mental health challenges on social media. Nearly a third of about 1,300 parents of 5- to 17-year-olds blamed social media for mental and emotional health problems in children. Bullying and stress were the next most frequently cited problems in the poll, part of the network’s Kids Under Pressure series this week.
Solutions ?
When teenagers and children spend most of their time on social media, they are instilled with a vision or an idea, that everyone else has a better life than they do.
This is what Selena Gomez said about socal media. Keep in mind that she has 150 million followers.
“Gomez said too much screen time on Instagram made her “kind of depressed looking at these people who look beautiful and amazing, and it would just get me down a lot, so I just think taking breaks is really important.”
Look at her comment, “it would just get me down a lot”. This is someone who is beautiful, talented and famous. How are our teenagers supposed to feel? The antidote to lonliness and isolation is relationships. Family and friends that are there for support. From thirty years of experience in the emergency room, I can tell you we know who is at highest risk for another attempt of suicide after discharge from the hospital. It’s those with very limited social support. Few family members. Few friends. One way to counteract this growing trend is to emphasize the importance of friendships and the family. The family is the laboratory of love. The classroom of love. We should emphasize spending time with friends and developing close strong and supportive friendships with classmates or teammates. This is what God had in mind for us as believers. There are fifty nine mentions of “each other” in the New Testament. Love, support, encourage, pray for, take care of each other. How many mentions do we need?
Why is this a subject that bothers me so much? Personal experience. I knew someone back in high school who had everything you could want as a teenager. He was popular, athletic, smart and he drove a cool car. He had his whole life ahead of him. He committed suicide. I always think about what Jesus told him when he stood before him. I think that Jesus may have said, “I gave you all these gifts to use in this life. Everything that anyone could ever want. What did you do with this life to show me? Did you love and serve others using the gifts that I gave you? How much time did you spend seeking your purpose while in this life? Did you use the time, talent and gifts in this life to fulfill the plan I had for you?
Our Life, One Millimeter
I think about something that I just heard this week. Eternity is like a rope stretched from California to Japan. Our lives are like the first one millimeter of that rope. That is all we have. One millimeter. What we do in this time has an impact on that long rope. As we age, time seems to be speeding up. It feels like we are running out of time. Then I think about the teenagers who contemplate suicide. They are going to have to explain their act to a higher being. If we approach life from a Christian worldview and we believe in the phenomenon of NDEs, we know that we are going to be held accountable for what we did in this life.
I use the story of this high school friend of mine with my children and I have told this story often because I want them to embrace the idea that our time on earth is precious. We only have a set amount of time while we are here, so we must live our lives in a way that is consistent with wisdom. That means thinking the way God and Jesus think.
I tell my children that God had a plan in mind for them before they were born. He has a purpose for them to fulfill that is unique. He has also given them the gifts, talent, time and energy to fulfill that purpose. We get to that purpose by striving to grow closer to our authentic selves. The selves we were created to be. The only way we get through that narrow path is by a growing thriving and healthy relationship with Jesus. He is our path to authenticity, power , peace, fulfillment, joy and salvation.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
(John 10:10 NLT)