Why is the Teen/Young Adult Suicide Rate Increasing?

Posted by Julie Hersh on 26 February 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Gunn High School, California, Palo Alto, facebook, social media, suicide

Last October I went to Palo Alto, CA for my husband Ken’s business school reunion. The trip allowed me to visit two friends from Octel Communications, both of whom have children at Gunn High School. Both hit me with the same news: four children from Gunn had killed themselves since the beginning of the school year. I spoke with one of these friends yesterday, another Gunn graduate has recently been added to the list.

These suicide victims were not friends, and though four of them ended their lives in the same way (threw themselves in front of an ongoing train), this was no kool-aid killing or planned event. The kids were from different classes, different ages and interests. Not outcasts or ostracized, these kids had “everything to live for.” So why on earth is this happening?

I have a theory, still in formation as to why. What has changed in our culture in the past 50 years? More technology, geographically dispersed families, women in the workforce in record numbers, more affluence, trend away from public education (at least in Dallas), decreased physical contact between adults and children due to fear of pedophilia or accusation of pedophilia, more divorce, busier lives, isolation of the elderly from teens, demanding sports schedules, increased competition at the collegiate level and more take-out food.

None of these changes are bad individually, as a woman I celebrate the freedom offered in the past 50 years. I don’t think, however, we have yet to understand the impact of these changes on the development of our brains and our resilience. All of these changes have lead to further isolation of our teens.

Two books I’ve recently read The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, and Change Your Brain Change Yourself by Daniel Amen have got me thinking. Have changes in our culture made our brains less resilient? Amen talks about the importance of physical contact and relationships in the development of the limbic portion of the brain. Doidge assets that the brain is constantly in development throughout our lives. Babies need to be held, caressed. Young people need hugs, pats on the back. Couples need affection. When a person is clinically depressed, the limbic system often goes haywire.

Our world today sets our teens, especially our affluent teens, in a frightening environment of isolation. They text and facebook, but face to face contact is reduced. Neighborhoods are not the same – when I grew up we all the kids in the neighborhood all went to the same public school. We’d race to each other’s houses without the need for our parents to drive. An older neighbor next door, Mr. Martin always had a kind word and an avuncular hug for me. I started playing high school tennis my junior year in high school without a thought about college until my senior year. Times were different, less stressful, but a major difference is my limbic brain was stoked and stroked throughout my childhood by my parents and other adults in my life.

I’d love to hear some commentary about this issue from some of you. What do you think? How can we reach out to the teens in our community and let them know we care? The good news from Doidge is that what ever is today, this does not have to be a permanent state. We always have a chance to make our brains better. We only need the will to try.