Internal feelings can be the strongest feelings to have, but also can be the most dangerous feelings to keep balled up inside. Not everyone knows when there is something wrong with someone but if they learn to communicate with one another, everyone can help and make a difference in that persons life. Having a death in the family or outside of the family is the hardest thing to deal with. It takes a toll on your life and can be difficult to move on from it. Without having people around you to calm you down, help you throughout your struggles in life, or even just to listen to what you have to say from time to time, that silence can lead someone into their own unwanted funeral.
My Perspective
I had many friends in high school and most of them had pretty normal lives, as so I thought. There were always arguments being talked about within ones family or friends and also many issues with themselves as a person but it never got to the point of leading them to their own death. One particular friend I had was always so bright and very energetic. Her name was Angelica Garcia and she was 16, leading herself into a great future. Every time I would see her she always seemed to be in a great mood, unless she had problems with a boyfriend or girl drama which was normal in high school. She was always in every party, loved going to the movies with other friends, and was a wonderful cheerleader for Chancellor High School. Her days seemed so busy but still looked as fun as she made it seem.
Sexual Assault
Many young teens struggle with being sexually assaulted and live with those horrible memories forever. It gets hard to talk to people about things like this because not everyone has been through it and not everyone can truly understand how bad it hurts. Angelica was sexually assaulted when she was just in third grade, at such a young age she had to learn how to move on from that bad experience and it wasn't easy. "Trying to seek for help, her mother looked for a psychologist or any doctor that might be able to help her out, but no doctor was accepting new patients and therefore made it even more difficult to find someone else to go to (Zitz)." Without the help Angelica needed throughout the years depression took over her body and her negative thoughts won over the positive ones that she needed. She sensed that no one wanted to pay attention and she wasn't taken seriously.
Depression Facts
"A depressive disorder is a disease that affects the mood, thoughts, and behavior. With the right treatment it can help more than 90% of those who suffer from depression (NMHA & DHHS)." According to the National Mental Health Association and the Department of Health and Human Services, "experts estimate that 5% of all teenagers will suffer from depression, but only 20% of depressed teens are appropriately diagnosed and treated. Depression in children and adolescents is associated with an increased risk for suicidal behaviors. This is treatable, a comprehensive treatment plan can be used that may include psychotherapy, ongoing evaluation and monitoring, and in some cases, psychiatric medication."
Poland Syndrome
It seemed that Angelica kept receiving more downfalls in her life and wasn't given enough time to recover through the struggles she's had before. As she got older she was diagnosed with Poland Syndrome which caused her to loose one of her breasts . "Poland Syndrome is a rare birth defect that lacks ones chest muscle from one side (Zitz)." Knowing her for a couple years, which you would think is a while, and not knowing certain things like this that she was going through is tough, not only for Angelica but also for the friends that would've supported her if they knew and would've made her feel more comfortable about the imperfections that we all have. Once again Angelica and her mother strived to look for more assistance to see what could be done with this issue. The only doctor they finally found that could've engaged in helping her only made her feel worse. "She said the doctor was so uncaring about her situation and told her that plastic surgery couldn't have been done until she was 18. The doctor didn't give her any other recommendations or at least some advice about her problem which made her really upset and she ended up crying after she left the doctors office that day (Zitz)."
Suicide Facts
According to David Satcher, M.D., former Surgeon General of the Untied States, " Suicide is a national public health problem" and "Suicide is our most preventable form of death." "More teenagers dies from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease combined (National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, 2001)." "Females are known to think about and attempt suicide about twice as often as males. Before the 1960's, suicide by adolescents happened only rarely; but today, nearly one in ten teens contemplates suicide, and over 500,000 attempt it each year. While suicide rates for all other ages have dropped, suicide among teens have nearly tripled (Gregston)."
Her Suffering Ends
It's hard to accept your own issues and to grow from them, but it seems that it's even harder to find someone that can understand you and make your issues a learning obstacle. One day Lisa Garcia, the mother of Angelica found that she had hung herself in her bedroom. One of the most horrific things to see is that the child you gave birth to had took her own life away. Lisa did everything she could to help Angelica and as many other parents would agree, they would do anything to keep their child safe and sound. "Jane Wallace who worked with Lisa at Re/Max Bravo was inspired when Lisa said, " As a parent you try to protect your kids from drugs and alcohol and you do what's necessary to protect them from other children, but you don't think you have to protect them from themselves." She explained this when they had lunch together a couple days after the incident of her daughter passing away. Jane said, " I thought that was so profound and well stated. It made me think differently about my responsibility as a parent (Zitz)."
Your Surroundings
Reaching out to people who need help is necessary, leading everyone to a healthy life is even a greater way to lead yourself in that same direction. The more positive people you surround yourself with the greater your outlook of life will be no matter what you've been through. Angelica needed that push, she as any other teen with similar or worse problems searched for that attention and the right thing to do in her situation. Although her story does not end well she still remains a powerful woman, and her family has been given a lot of support to stay strong and continue to live a happy life.
Work Cited
The Free Lance Star by Michael Zitz http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2010/072010/Angelica-Nichole-Garcia/index_html?page=1
Facts made available by the National Mental Health Association, DRADA, Department of Health and Human Services http://www.thebalancedmind.org/learn/library/facts-about-teenage-depression
Figures from the National Center for Health Statistics for the year 2007 All rates are per 100,000 population http://www.speaneohio.org/about-teen-suicide-and-depression/youth-suicide-facts
"Teen Suicide Facts You Need to Know" by Mark Gregston http://blogs.christianpost.com/parenting/teen-suicide-facts-you-need-to-know-3176/
You are completely right Catherine, emotional support is vital in preventing suicide. The key is to listen and offer help. I appreciate that you put every part into perspective to explain more how suicide is accompanied by so many things other than depression. I am looking forward to your future posts.
ReplyDeleteThat is extremely powerful. There was a girl about a month ago who killed herself because of bullying in school. She was 12 years old. Being the mother of a ten year old boy, I cannot imagine the pain that either one of them were feeling that they felt this was the only answer. I can't imagine the pain of the parents who found their children like this. It breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good post, but I have some concerns: first, I think for Angelica's family's privacy, it would be important for you to strongly consider using a pseudonym unless this information is in the public sphere (already reported in the news). Since she was a minor when this happened, protect her by changing her name at the very least. Sexual assault is a horrible crime, but we don't want to infringe on her right to privacy, even now.
ReplyDeleteYou have excellent sources: just make sure to use them exactly in the spaces where the material is being borrowed (in each paragraph!). I really appreciate your attention to detail, your pacing and frame here.