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Suicide
If you have had thoughts
of commiting suicide, you are on the right page. Please read this
page, and please use the listed resources to get immediate help.
To help a friend who you
think may be suicidal read
Helping Someone Stop their
own Suicide.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death
in adolescence. Every 46 minutes a young person kills himself/herself.
75 to 80% of successful teen suicidal deaths are those of boys.
The majority of suicidal attempts are those of girls.
95% of suicidal people are suffering from mental
illness, the most common being depression. If you are depressed,
drug abuse, anxiety, impulsiveness, rage, desperation and hopelessness
can push you over the line into suicidal behavior. While depression
may result from many different aspects of a person's life, suicide
is usually triggered by a single event that pushes a person too
far.
Suicide is not glamorous. It's an ugly act
of violence. Every 42 seconds someone attempts suicide, but less
than 1 in every 24 actually succeed. Suicide often results in serious
injury such as brain damage, and thus just makes a desperate situation
much, much worse.
If you are contemplating suicide to force people
to take notice of you, it won't work. If they don't notice
you now, they won't notice you when you're buried under
the ground. The only people you will significantly effect are those
who already love you. The ones who have shown you the most compassion
in your life will suffer the most from an act of suicide.
If you believe in life after death, consider the possibility
that there is none. Consider that you may just end up dead and burried
in the ground. Consider this incredible waste of a human life. Consider
your life down the road as a life improved. A life with priceless
memories. A life with irreplaceable experiences. A life with love
and friendship. If you don't feel you can have these things, we
are happy to say that you can, as long as you live.
Emotional pain always diminishes with time.
Life can always gets better. Death cannot. Anyone can improve their
life. The human spirit is more powerful than anything that can or
has happened to you. You cannot improve your life if you are dead.
You can only improve your life if you stay alive.
Suicidal behavior is a medical condition treated
with counseling. If you are feeling suicidal
seek help right now.
Boys Town National Hotline
www.ffbh.boystown.org
1-800-448-3000
Crisis counseling for girls and boys and referral to local help
The National "YOUTH" Crisis
Help line
1-800-999-9999
1-800-SUICIDE
www.livewithdepression.org
A national that links callers to local crisis centers:
American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
1-888-333-AFSP
http://www.afsp.org
Great info on suicide and suicide prevention with useful links
The Covenant House
1-800-999-9999 crisis hotline http://covenanthouse.org/cov_con.htm
Although written for young kids, this site can provide useful information
for adolescence on how to cope with thoughts ofÉ
Running away http://www.covenanthouse.org/kid/kid_run/kid_run.htm
Suicide
http://www.covenanthouse.org/kid/kid_sui/kid_sui.htm
Abuse
http://www.covenanthouse.org/kid/kid_abu/kid_abu.htm
For help escaping depression, please read our
Depression section.
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