Question

Community Case: Mental Health Case Part 1 Seventeen-year-old Justin Sutton took his own life last night with a handgun owned by his parents. Recently, several of his peers had posted photographs and demeaning comments about him on social media, suggesting that Justin was gay. This was only the most recent incident in a long history of bullying and depression experienced by Justin, who had been meeting with his guidance counselor regularly. The counselor had referred him for mental health services, and he'd been waiting for his first appointment. Questions for students: 1. What risk factors are commonly associated with teen suicide? Which risk factors are observed in Justin's situation? 2. Think of your high school days or the community where you grew up (if you are older, you could consider the experience of your children). What do you remember about classmates with severe depression or anxiety and suicidal tendencies? What kind of supports were available in your school or community? To what extent was the issue of teen depression and teen suicide discussed in your school or community?

Answer 1

1. The risk factors commonly associated with suicidal tendancies in teens can be enlisted as:

• Idea of perfectionism and its direct or indirect imposing on them by parents, teachers, peers or even society as a whole.
• Interrogation on their sexual or gender identity as LGBTQ+, which is completely a choice of freedom of an individual actually to be in any of these and is supported by law even.
• Mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder etc.
• A history of antisocial habits like substance abuse, excessive alcoholism etc.
• History of being a victim or witness of sexual or physical abuse.
• Feeling of self-esteem, lack of confidence, being self-crictical or pessimistic
• Academic struggles with unhealthy competitions, comparison by parents or teachers with other students in studies and co-curricular activities.
• Lack of social and family support in any of their thoughts, doubts, ideas and anxieties.
• Loneliness due to busy schedule of parents or guardian, or due to feeling of being neglected by them because of a younger sibling.
• being bullied personally or socially
• relationship issues in teenage
• Family history of suicidal attempts or committed suicides.   

On checking Justin's case, he struggled well actually and he dropped himself to a disaster when these factors reached beyond a limit to cope up for him. The risk factors which lead him to suicide can be:

• he was bullied by the peer group
• depression emerged out of being bullied and interrogation to his sexual identity
• idea of perfectionism by the society that a person should not fall under LGBTQ+, made his peers attack him mentally and lead to a depression
• he might have felt lack of self esteem and confidence when subjected to a character assasination in public media.  

2. In my school days, I came across a few of my friends with anxiety and depression who also expressed suicidal ideation due to relationship issues like breaking up with lover, scoring less marks in exams, not winning for competitions etc. I remember those students to have a mentality of giving up for someone or something instead of fighting for themselves to be blod and brave in life. Our school provided many facilities like personal counselling, leisure activities, psychiatric consultations and efficient parent education too, which resulted in good upbringing of all the students who had depression and anxiety issues without affecting their studies and personal life. They all reached good heights now actually.