Why are so many young people killing themselves?

[simon43]

Nothing specifically to do with Thailand.  Every day, I read of another death of a young person, either by suicide or due to a 'sudden illness'.  (That can often mean a heart attack caused by a drugs overdose...). 

 

Is it because young people are faced with difficult situations that we as adults didn't have to face?  I'm thinking of perhaps peer pressure on social media, the feeling that life isn't worth living if you only get 100 'likes'.

 

Or is it that young people are unable to cope in this wokey, cancel culture.  They are simply too 'soft' and can't cope with being told that they are wrong about something.

 

Or... or... ?

 

I'm genuinely interested to know what's going wrong here.  

 

Here are links to US teenage suicide data since 1981:

 

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rmO7o3q90JV1wl9tymUq3FAvzfY=/1400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19331464/US_teen_suicide.jpg

 

and US teenage deaths from drugs overdoses since 1999:

http://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/10720.jpeg

 

 

[Maha Sarakham]

I won't speak for the deceased or claim to be an expert on the subject, but the world is a really screwed up place these days, in a number of different ways.

 

For example in Western markets, speculative housing prices are increasingly being seen as a lucrative source of investment for foreign buyers and rental firms. The government is doing nothing to protect citizens in this regard. In many desirable areas with a reasonable job market, it is nearly impossible for a young person to buy anything anymore even with 6-figure incomes straight out of college.

[StreetCowboy]

It looks like there is a long term rising trend, but for some reason there was a dip between the mid 90s until recently.  No-one asked questions about that.

is anyone asking why drug deaths are lower than in 2007?  Has the world gone mad?

[sezze]

Social media creates unreal worlds , young people ( not only them) can't see behind the fake pics and movies and think "everybody got that" while they are very far from that world creating a lot of pressure on them . 2nd is the world is a much bigger place then the world they live in vs the world they see on social media . They feel like boxed in , creating a lot of stress also .

[StayinThailand2much]

Younger people are emotionally more vulnerable. Family problems, problems with partner and friends, school problems and mobbing, poverty, fears about future and 'not being able to cope'... Add a long-lasting pandemic like Covid-19, and problems are more exacerbated. Imagine, you are 18 and this terrible pandemic has been going on since your mid-teens, which must feel like 'forever'...

Edited February 23, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[Golden Triangle]

Hmm, I don't really care.

 

[CharlieH]

Inflammatory remark removed.

[StayinThailand2much]

5 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

What bullsh*t, I don't believe I just read that ha Ha ha ha 

Read your Disney comics... ????

[Golden Triangle]

14 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Younger people are emotionally more vulnerable. Family problems, problems with partner and friends, school problems and mobbing, poverty, fears about future and 'not being able to cope'... Add a long-lasting pandemic like Covid-19, and problems are more exacerbated. Imagine, you are 18 and this terrible pandemic has been going on since your mid-teens, which must feel like 'forever'...

 

Personally, I have been through rough patches myself in the past two years. I mostly cope with it by partly "living in the past" via FB forums, YouTube, etc., or in the future, planning my future 'big holiday', while mostly "ignoring" the present, except for news, daily chores, etc. - Younger people don't have that option. They cannot 'fall back' on good memories of years or decades past, and also are not (financially) independent enough to plan for the future.

We all had those problems growing up, I just didn't worry about them, <deleted>, it's an easy fiix.

[Jingthing]

Anyone that still remembers how it felt like when young wouldn't even be asking this question. 

[Golden Triangle]

24 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Younger people are emotionally more vulnerable. Family problems, problems with partner and friends, school problems and mobbing, poverty, fears about future and 'not being able to cope'... Add a long-lasting pandemic like Covid-19, and problems are more exacerbated. Imagine, you are 18 and this terrible pandemic has been going on since your mid-teens, which must feel like 'forever'...

Well it would be nice to slip back to 1980 I must admit ????

[OneMoreFarang]

I am sure social media and the extreme fast propagation of (true or false) information has a lot to do with it.

 

In the moment a sample from when I was young came to my mind. A boy, maybe 14 years old, started a couple of fires in the village where I lived. He was in the local fire brigade and he was always the first to turn up to fight the fire.

After he was caught his parents moved with him to another place. It was a new start for him and them because nobody knew them.

That couldn't happen today. Because with social media and news they could move to the remotest village far away but the news would be available over there, social media would be there, just like in the next house in the original village. "A new start" is no option anymore. 

That is obviously also true for bad life decisions like publishing nude pictures, etc. It will NEVER go away.

 

I just saw a video of a relative famous adult guy who was accused by his mentally unstable wife to mess around with their children. The police came and arrested him. She accused him of bad things. Neighbors and most of his friends kept their distance to him. His career was over. All just because of never proven and according to him absurd allegations. His life was ruined. I am sure lots of people will lose any will to live in such a situation. And vulnerable teenager are definitely in an even worse situation when "everybody" thinks bad about them and they have nowhere to go.

[BangkokReady]

Certainly a mixture of what you have said.  I think also young people have the idea that it's cool to be hedonistic and promiscuous, along with wanting freedom and to live like children forever, but this actually makes them miserable.

 

What I mean is, if they dated briefly, married young and started a family, they would be happy.  Or perhaps, if that still made them happy, they might not feel so hopeless and miserable.  Certainly social media making people think that they have many more options than they really do plays a part in this.

 

Unfortunately, I think that this idea that people should be free to live however they want ends up with people just not being happy.  They think they are getting something better, that these old fashioned ways are so boring and controlled, but actually, like a child allowed to eat whatever they want and pick their own bedtime, it ends up being bad for them.

 

Probably an element of some force that wants to destroy the family also.  Possibly a mixture of outsiders and degenerates who don't want anyone to be happy if they cannot be, and maybe consumer culture where people being single and sad makes them spend more money.

 

So all this "liberation" leaves them with little reason to live.  Also, they don't realise their error until it is too late for them to change back.  You can't get the toothpaste back in the tube.

[simon43]

55 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Anyone that still remembers how it felt like when young wouldn't even be asking this question. 

I'm asking because I never felt like this in my childhood or teenage years.  My father (old school kind of guy), taught me to be honest, (even if my honestly upset others).  He taught me that the world owes me precisely nothing.  If I want something, then I have to use my own skills and strength to get it.  If I can't get it, then I must accept that and move on with my life. I must never lose one iota of sleep over what others think or say about me.

 

Of course, I wasn't concerned with getting likes for a picture of my breakfast....  Things that hurt me were somewhat more important.  How have we reached a world where teens kill themselves because of what others say or think about them?

Edited February 23, 2022 by simon43

[OneMoreFarang]

7 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Of course, I wasn't concerned with getting likes for a picture of my breakfast....  Things that hurt me were somewhat more important.  How have we reached a world where teens kill themselves because of what others say or think about them?

All problems are relative. Poor people are unhappy i.e. because of their limited resources and opportunities. And at the same time rich people are unhappy for various reason. But rich people don't think: Look at those poor guys, I should be happy because I am rich. That is not how our minds works. Everybody of us can have, subjective for us, BIG problems, which for other people look like small problems. It's in our minds. 

I never cared about social media and I don't use it. But imagine if you are a young teenager and everybody around you looks great and has this wonderful life - at least on facebook. I imagine that can be frustrating and hard to take. Some of us realize it is all show, but I am sure others don't realize that. And then maybe they go down more and more in that rabbit hole. And then it is more and more difficult to get out of that.

[2 is 1]

Kids and youg's has too much extra sht! Has phones, internet, million tv chanel's, games..... etc.

Too many things where they see what they dont have them self! When i was kid i watch black and white tv where had 2 chanel and im only 49 years old! Kids not play outside whit friends anymore, they dont need to go watch is friend home or not , THEY SENT MESSAGE. Hole social system is F up.

So they dont have friends to help if they feel bad, hug help much more than txt get well soon!

[dj230]

3 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

I won't speak for the deceased or claim to be an expert on the subject, but the world is a really screwed up place these days, in a number of different ways.

 

For example in Western markets, speculative housing prices are increasingly being seen as a lucrative source of investment for foreign buyers and rental firms. The government is doing nothing to protect citizens in this regard. In many desirable areas with a reasonable job market, it is nearly impossible for a young person to buy anything anymore even with 6-figure incomes straight out of college.

I beg to differ that is 100% due to bad money management / overspending. 

 

Lots of my friends who became mechanics out of high school bought their own houses, I only graduated high school less than a decade ago, lots of people going to university spending $50-$100k to get degree that has little to no value because they choose to party and take some program that gave them a piece of paper with no actual education/effort needed to be put in. Then spending all their money on things like drugs, alcohol, luxury cars, luxury clothes, renting nice apartments and buying expensive food, then blaming everyone else for why they can't afford a house. That's about 50% of the people I know, everyone I know who worked hard whether in school or their career and didn't overspend/do drugs is doing just fine. Not all own houses, but they're all paying their bills and savings and are able to buy whatever they want/need for a great life. 

 

I have little empathy for those who made bad financial decisions and bad choices. 

 

That being said, I think the high suicide rate has more to do with people not understanding life yet, I would guess it has a lot to do with the internet/media, showing/glorifying extravagant/perfect lives on social media, giving a false sense of reality to people. I knew quite a few people who were depressed/suicidal, a lot of their issues didn't seem like real issues and they were always comparing themselves to the lucky 1% in the world. That coupled with glorying drug use/alcohol use, not a great mix. 

 

A lot of people are just unlucky as well that have horrible lives and can't be blamed for it. 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by dj230

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Anyone that still remembers how it felt like when young wouldn't even be asking this question. 

wavy gravy said if you can remember the 60s, then you weren't there... or something like that...

 

to the OP - I think that we oldsters grew up in a different world - in the late 70s child abductions became a big thing - highly publicized... a thought so frightening that parents tightened the reins... and child experiences turned to mom assisted play dates and eventually internet filled the void, though poorly. 

 

growing up became more alienated and recently, covid has exacerbated that. I am raising a soon to be 17 yr old girl and for the last 2 years she has gone from school and dance class to chatting on her 'device' w/her friends. She seems well adjusted but for many, this cannot be good. 

 

Too much alone time w/games, social awkwardness, surely must lead many to a feeling of being vulnerable and isolated... 

[Sparktrader]

Depression up

Govs make it worse

[hellohello123]

Every generation complains about the younger generation of their day

 

Things do seem quite bad-ish now, but I do feel like telling them to HTFU 

And I'm in my 30s

[tandor]

...happening every minute; just you don't get to hear about them all. Every Sudden Death is recorded, and no doubt available by Freedom of Information from any country. Usually the Attorney-General's Department handle this.

[BangkokReady]

7 hours ago, simon43 said:

How have we reached a world where teens kill themselves because of what others say or think about them?

Do you read? If so, theres a book called "the coddling of the American mind" that attempts to answer this question. You might find it interesting. Its main focus is the American university system, but it's pretty relevant to all modern life for young people.

 

They also reference some other books and sources in there that help to answer your question.

Edited February 24, 2022 by BangkokReady

[mvdf]

So many exacerbating factors contributing to mental health decline in these challenging and dark times.

[pgrahmm]

They are simply out of touch & isolate themselves in the hyper critical world of cyber space....

Their people & actual analytical life skills never take on the layers of social interactions required to cope with each "step" of life.....

The are societally still infants,  children no matter their age....They have no real life development or coping skills....

Coupled with the cyber "value" system & not a real world system of values they are empty vessels....

Parenting is a lost art as each generation gets progressively less strident....

[GammaGlobulin]

We do not see any data on this thread, here...do we?

 

Let's, rather, mourn for the Chimney Sweeps.

 

Let's read more Dickens.

 

The OP seems to me to be more of the Artful Dodger using a hot button to reap a reaction.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

27 minutes ago, mvdf said:

So many exacerbating factors contributing to mental health decline in these challenging and dark times.

Sorry, however these are not dark times, by any means.

 

The Sun is out.

The weather is sweet.

Better than 100 years ago, in 1922, for example...

 

Better than 1962, waiting for the end of the world, during the Cuban Crisis...

 

 

[RichardColeman]

Our youth these days, if there is ever another war, the enemy trench will only have to start shouting names and they will all burst into tears and run away crying. I truly believe that our generation (growing up in the 60's - 80's) are the last great generation, can't see anything in the last 40 years worth a fig. Even my own kids think life owes them a living, God help their kids.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

43 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Do you read? If so, theres a book called "the coddling of the American mind" that attempts to answer this question. You might find it interesting. Its main focus is the American university system, but it's pretty relevant to all modern life for young people.

 

They also reference some other books and sources in there that help to answer your question.

Oh....wait.

 

If you want to read about the American uni system......

 

Then...Why...

 

Why don't you read Giles Goat Boy, written by Barth?

 

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, simon43 said:

Or is it that young people are unable to cope in this wokey, cancel culture.  They are simply too 'soft' and can't cope with being told that they are wrong about something.

Lemme see ...........

Can't see any way to ever own a home.

No degree = no job, and the course fees will leave them with 20 years of debt.

Limited access to sex, little chance of marriage and kids.

Pension age being pushed up (will soon be age 70 in the UK), work until you die.

Air travel finished due to COVID, personal freedom limited for same reason.

 

Things look pretty bleak to young people at the moment.

[1FinickyOne]

5 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Sorry, however these are not dark times, by any means

you can't bring back the covid dead, ignore climate change, watch the anti-vaxxers physically fight the pro-vaxxers, watch the complete breakdown of the political system and rise of authoritarian leaders and discriminatory practices - - 

 

you can't white wash injustices by saying these are not dark times... maybe the sun comes out tomorrow Annie but there is plenty of illness and darkness, sadness and sorrow to go around. 

 

Ask the restaurant owners and hotels and masseuses and chamber maids, taxi drivers who have lost their jobs...