I truly think this has a lot to do with it. How many families even eat dinner TOGETHER every night? Sunday dinners with grandparents, various aunts/uncles & cousins? It's not just kids being pushed to the limits, but parents also to be able to provide for their children. When I grew up I can't think of anyone's mother working, yet the families all had homes and cars. Singles mothers? Can't think of any in my childhood. Can it even be done on one income anymore or do we want more in material things than we really need? Is it more important to some families to drive a new $60K SUV than to use the $600/mo saved by getting good used $20K SUV for a family vacation? Are the pressures of debt because families are living above what they can really afford? I think the whole idea of credit cards is too tempting to people....they buy it now just because they can, not because they need to. Things now days don't seem revolve around family but money.
American girls' suicide rates rise
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AMBER ALERT TX - Legend Torres, 2, abducted by Joey Torres - April 27, 2024
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OneLostGrl
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:blowkiss: Well guess what? We have, just as well as everyone else, anyway!! Keep on keepin' on!!
OneLostGrl
I'm going against the grain- I'm going sane
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OneLostGrl
I'm going against the grain- I'm going sane
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LOL- OK, you asked for it! I believe the rise in mental illness starting with people of my generation has a lot to do with the drugs that the Baby boomers experimented with as well as the Vietnam war and from there it has been handed down from generation to generation.
I believe drugs stay in our system and effect us is ways we do not realize long after we think they have worn off.
IMO prior to these things, mental illness was not such an epidemic.
I'm not really convinced of your theory because I see alot of mental illness amongst my peers whose parents didn't do drugs. I just think it's better diagnosed and talked about.
As far as drugs staying in your system, I have always told my daughters and their friends, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY, YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SET OF EGGS AND YOU DON'T WANT TO RISK YOUR CHILD'S LIFE SOMEDAY.
This news makes me feel so sad for our girls. My oldest went through a horrible time in 11th grade. I can't remember how I knew something was up, but by the time she finally broke down and asked for help I was able to say "you already have an appointment tomorrow" with a youth psychologist I knew. Thankfully, we can laugh about that moment now.
I believe school puts a lot of pressure on our children with all the career and college planning that they start from 8th grade on up. The pressures just get more intense as they progress.
Mean kids (especially GIRLS) are always around, and if your child doesn't have some self-esteem and faith in a higher power going in...it's almost a lost race right there.
I also think female hormones cause a lot of emotional ups and downs. I'm trying to give my daughter (10 yrs) the B vitamins on a regular basis in hopes it will help with mood swings. I know I need them especially around "that time of the month".
I'm so glad many of you are here to tell your story. What we learn from you we can take in and pass on to our children, and hope and pray for the best.
Hugs to you all! :blowkiss:
I believe school puts a lot of pressure on our children with all the career and college planning that they start from 8th grade on up. The pressures just get more intense as they progress.
Mean kids (especially GIRLS) are always around, and if your child doesn't have some self-esteem and faith in a higher power going in...it's almost a lost race right there.
I also think female hormones cause a lot of emotional ups and downs. I'm trying to give my daughter (10 yrs) the B vitamins on a regular basis in hopes it will help with mood swings. I know I need them especially around "that time of the month".
I'm so glad many of you are here to tell your story. What we learn from you we can take in and pass on to our children, and hope and pray for the best.
Hugs to you all! :blowkiss:
I also think it's not necessarily "drugs" but anything that's not natural that we put in our bodies. I wonder about fake sugars, and all the other chemicals and food/drink additives that we eat everyday without even thinking about.
There is definately something environmental that is adding to the increase in kids who have different neurological disorders. It could be anything from vaccines, to hormones being fed to animals to pesticides to anything.
Back to the higher suicide rates, well, I think that there are many factors leading up it. We have definately stressed our kids out. They are over scheduled and taught to be competitive at such a young age. Parents are overworked and there's just way too much information at their fingertips at a young age. Add hormones to that mix and the whole "emo" culture and it's a recipe for disaster. IMO.
Taximom & csds, you took the words right outta my mouth.
When I see articles like this, the first thing I think of is what we've done to the environment and how it's affecting us now. Kids are getting way too much exposure to synthetic hormones in meat & dairy products. Then on top of it, the artificial additives and chemicals in processed foods... and the missing minerals/ elements in food that is now grown in a world that has lost most of its nutrient-rich topsoil, and so the soil has to be boosted with synthetic fertilizers,, and its over-processed so the food has to be boosted with srtificial nutrients. And on top of that, all the toxins in the environment, that are now in our bodies. Did we not think this was going to catch up with us someday? It results in more problems than just cancer. I truly believe mysterious suicides could be related to mood/mental problems stemming from this also. And, there seems to be a marked increase in homosexuality among kids... doesn't there? or is that just my imagination..? Look how scientists are finding all these male fish now with feminine traits/genetalia, that have been affected by pollution. They have confirmed that sperm counts in humans have dropped over the years.
Where does it all end...? Something alarming is going on here, and there is no much we don't know yet. But I know one thing. It has everything to do with 'the high cost of progress'.
So I agree... add all this to a kid's already exploding, chaotic, toxic hormonal soup that is swimming all through their brain at the onset of adolescence.... and living in an overly-materialistc world saturated with media violence and other soul-damaging images and messages... and where we are now inundated with messages that there is no hope for the future, the planet, humanity.. we are doomed. And, most people are all split up from their extended family, or their 'tribe' nowadays.... very little support system. So how is a teenager supposed to react....?
I think we are going to continue to see an increase also in kids committing suicide, as the generations start to mature who grew up like this: watching videos instead playing in the woods, text messaging and hanging out at the mall instead of swimming in a creek, playing violent, gory video games instead of playing ball with the kids in the neighborhood. I don't think it's good for kids at all, the way they are growing up now. It seems they are having less and less connection with the natural world, with fresh air, with playing with other kids and making up their own fun. It's all about gadgets and materialism now. I am so tired of hearing parents say "Well I tried to not let my kid play those violent video games but then I just gave up." Do parents not have backbones anymore?? Is the lure of violent video games and gadgetry (cell phones, iPods, MySpace, etc.) SO incredibly ALL-powerful that it takes over your ability and your right to be a parent, and raise your kids the way you want..??
Well, that could be another issue.., but somehow I think it ties in.
When I see articles like this, the first thing I think of is what we've done to the environment and how it's affecting us now. Kids are getting way too much exposure to synthetic hormones in meat & dairy products. Then on top of it, the artificial additives and chemicals in processed foods... and the missing minerals/ elements in food that is now grown in a world that has lost most of its nutrient-rich topsoil, and so the soil has to be boosted with synthetic fertilizers,, and its over-processed so the food has to be boosted with srtificial nutrients. And on top of that, all the toxins in the environment, that are now in our bodies. Did we not think this was going to catch up with us someday? It results in more problems than just cancer. I truly believe mysterious suicides could be related to mood/mental problems stemming from this also. And, there seems to be a marked increase in homosexuality among kids... doesn't there? or is that just my imagination..? Look how scientists are finding all these male fish now with feminine traits/genetalia, that have been affected by pollution. They have confirmed that sperm counts in humans have dropped over the years.
Where does it all end...? Something alarming is going on here, and there is no much we don't know yet. But I know one thing. It has everything to do with 'the high cost of progress'.
So I agree... add all this to a kid's already exploding, chaotic, toxic hormonal soup that is swimming all through their brain at the onset of adolescence.... and living in an overly-materialistc world saturated with media violence and other soul-damaging images and messages... and where we are now inundated with messages that there is no hope for the future, the planet, humanity.. we are doomed. And, most people are all split up from their extended family, or their 'tribe' nowadays.... very little support system. So how is a teenager supposed to react....?
I think we are going to continue to see an increase also in kids committing suicide, as the generations start to mature who grew up like this: watching videos instead playing in the woods, text messaging and hanging out at the mall instead of swimming in a creek, playing violent, gory video games instead of playing ball with the kids in the neighborhood. I don't think it's good for kids at all, the way they are growing up now. It seems they are having less and less connection with the natural world, with fresh air, with playing with other kids and making up their own fun. It's all about gadgets and materialism now. I am so tired of hearing parents say "Well I tried to not let my kid play those violent video games but then I just gave up." Do parents not have backbones anymore?? Is the lure of violent video games and gadgetry (cell phones, iPods, MySpace, etc.) SO incredibly ALL-powerful that it takes over your ability and your right to be a parent, and raise your kids the way you want..??
Well, that could be another issue.., but somehow I think it ties in.
OneLostGrl
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I agree with a lot of what ya'll have brought up but I also can't help but simply look at my family's history with suicide and want to say "But, that can't be the only cause because.... it goes back to when they were all kids they were out playing in the woods, having dinner with their parents every night, not sitting in front of the TV, no cell phones etc etc."
My biological father killed himself when I was 7- there were no video games, no cell phones, no internet.. same goes for my uncle who killed himself when I was in high school and then my cousin in 1994 when he was 17 years old, before all the kids had cell phones and internet. Lastly, my step father who also did not grow up with cells, video games etc.
Also- MY generation had video games, hung out in malls, vegged out in front of the TV, parents who worked all day and were hardly home. There were no Ipods, but we had Walkmen and we used them just as much as the kids now use their MP3 Players. We'd close ourselves in our bedrooms for hours talking on the phone.. sure, it had a cord but parents would get a long cord and we'd just pull it under our door and sit on the floor if we had to. Parents would drop us off down town and we'd roam for an entire day alone, unsupervised, crossing traffic etc. We could ride our bikes pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, again, unsupervised. We'd get dropped off at the mall, at the rollar skating rink, we'd babysit at 12 years old for babies, overnight and have friends & boyfriends over, talk on the phone.
Almost all of my peers grew up in single parent homes who's dad's wouldn't even bother to spend visitation with them let alone pay child support. Almost all of my peers parents were active drunks and/or drug addicts. Almost all of my peers parents lived their own life and let their kids do the same. Almost all of my peers raised themselves and didn't even have to bother "sneaking" out of the house at night because parents were either at work, out drinking ("dancing" they called it) or sound asleep, oblivious.
Now most of my peers are raising children, those children are teenagers- what kind of parents do you guess they are?! What kind of parents will those kids end up being... IF they make it that far?!
I don't see this rise in mental illness, suicide as something that has just begun to build itself with our group of teens that we have today, in the 2000's. I see it as something that has been slowly building in intensity and as each new generation has their children it will worsen.. the pattern we follow is what is killing our children.
Kids need our love, our time, our attention, our approval and even our disapproval, our disipline, they need us to give them limits and follow through, they need to be held accountable. WE need to stop the cycle!!
My biological father killed himself when I was 7- there were no video games, no cell phones, no internet.. same goes for my uncle who killed himself when I was in high school and then my cousin in 1994 when he was 17 years old, before all the kids had cell phones and internet. Lastly, my step father who also did not grow up with cells, video games etc.
Also- MY generation had video games, hung out in malls, vegged out in front of the TV, parents who worked all day and were hardly home. There were no Ipods, but we had Walkmen and we used them just as much as the kids now use their MP3 Players. We'd close ourselves in our bedrooms for hours talking on the phone.. sure, it had a cord but parents would get a long cord and we'd just pull it under our door and sit on the floor if we had to. Parents would drop us off down town and we'd roam for an entire day alone, unsupervised, crossing traffic etc. We could ride our bikes pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, again, unsupervised. We'd get dropped off at the mall, at the rollar skating rink, we'd babysit at 12 years old for babies, overnight and have friends & boyfriends over, talk on the phone.
Almost all of my peers grew up in single parent homes who's dad's wouldn't even bother to spend visitation with them let alone pay child support. Almost all of my peers parents were active drunks and/or drug addicts. Almost all of my peers parents lived their own life and let their kids do the same. Almost all of my peers raised themselves and didn't even have to bother "sneaking" out of the house at night because parents were either at work, out drinking ("dancing" they called it) or sound asleep, oblivious.
Now most of my peers are raising children, those children are teenagers- what kind of parents do you guess they are?! What kind of parents will those kids end up being... IF they make it that far?!
I don't see this rise in mental illness, suicide as something that has just begun to build itself with our group of teens that we have today, in the 2000's. I see it as something that has been slowly building in intensity and as each new generation has their children it will worsen.. the pattern we follow is what is killing our children.
Kids need our love, our time, our attention, our approval and even our disapproval, our disipline, they need us to give them limits and follow through, they need to be held accountable. WE need to stop the cycle!!
Regarding mental illness: A friend has been "battling" depression for over a year, she gets a bit better and then backtracks. Her meds have gone up over the last year from 112 to 300 dosage.
Guess what: She had a physical. All was well except that she had a serious shortage of vitamin B12. Won't go into details, but an IMPORTANT vitamin, and shortage is usually due to malabsorption.
So the Doctor told her to take 2000mcg of B12 a day, and after ONLY 3 days, she phoned and told me "she feels" like a new women.
Today she even laughed. She was in the livingroom, her daughter and husband came in and asked her: Was that you laughing, and she said yes. They all hugged..... She went for a long walk, and feels better, a lot better. The insominia is gone, the fatigue, the weakness, the focus and concentration is better, she "feels" lifted and energized.
Yes, this lack of vitamin can mimic depression, and it take years before it finally "gets serious", but can cause permanent damage.
I am VERY, happy for her and her family is glad to "have her back".
Amazing, yes, but a true story.
She may still have depression, who knows, but I do know that the lack of this vitamin may have made her feel "depressed" when it was the vitamin that was responsible for a lot of the symptoms.
Guess what: She had a physical. All was well except that she had a serious shortage of vitamin B12. Won't go into details, but an IMPORTANT vitamin, and shortage is usually due to malabsorption.
So the Doctor told her to take 2000mcg of B12 a day, and after ONLY 3 days, she phoned and told me "she feels" like a new women.
Today she even laughed. She was in the livingroom, her daughter and husband came in and asked her: Was that you laughing, and she said yes. They all hugged..... She went for a long walk, and feels better, a lot better. The insominia is gone, the fatigue, the weakness, the focus and concentration is better, she "feels" lifted and energized.
Yes, this lack of vitamin can mimic depression, and it take years before it finally "gets serious", but can cause permanent damage.
I am VERY, happy for her and her family is glad to "have her back".
Amazing, yes, but a true story.
She may still have depression, who knows, but I do know that the lack of this vitamin may have made her feel "depressed" when it was the vitamin that was responsible for a lot of the symptoms.
OneLostGrl
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Absolutely- Lack of Vitamins can do awful things to ones body and mind. I think one of the first things a person should do if they feel depressed is have a full blood screen.
After I had my son and my illness became unbearable, A Multi-Vitamin and going off of the birth control pill were the first things I tried.
AfterMidnight
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I believe suicide was as prevelant in past generations as it is today, except it was simply misunderstood and there were no statistics. I was raised by my grandparents in a stable home but the stories they told would curl your hair.
There were always people who had no will to live and there still are. I've spoken to many people on the internet who are just marking time 'till they can leave this dimension. They aren't mentally ill, they just never felt at home in this time and place.
There were always people who had no will to live and there still are. I've spoken to many people on the internet who are just marking time 'till they can leave this dimension. They aren't mentally ill, they just never felt at home in this time and place.
kgeaux
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Suicide is becoming such a horribly pervasive problem.
Last week, a co-worker's 13 year old neice hung herself in her closet.....she was a seemingly happy little girl. After her death, her mom found her diary and discovered that the child had gotten instructions on how to kill herself from a myspace aquaintance. Can you imagine telling someone, a young girl, how to kill herself? That someone would do that is just about destroying my hope for humanity.
Last year, FIVE of my son's friends commited suicide. FIVE. They were all between fifteen and sixteen years old, all came from middle class to affluent families, three of them were "honors" students; only ONE of them had any kind of previous behavior that had made their families seek help for them. The other four were just completely out of the blue.
One thing they all had in common: they all announced their intentions on myspace. They all left a last "goodbye" message to their friends.
Last week, a co-worker's 13 year old neice hung herself in her closet.....she was a seemingly happy little girl. After her death, her mom found her diary and discovered that the child had gotten instructions on how to kill herself from a myspace aquaintance. Can you imagine telling someone, a young girl, how to kill herself? That someone would do that is just about destroying my hope for humanity.
Last year, FIVE of my son's friends commited suicide. FIVE. They were all between fifteen and sixteen years old, all came from middle class to affluent families, three of them were "honors" students; only ONE of them had any kind of previous behavior that had made their families seek help for them. The other four were just completely out of the blue.
One thing they all had in common: they all announced their intentions on myspace. They all left a last "goodbye" message to their friends.