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Surprisingly, depression and suicide are growing problems among teenagers and young adults; those who, it would seem, have the most to seek from life. Perhaps ignorance is the reason why the rise of such problems has gone unchecked for so long. High schools and college campuses are mini-worlds operating in a subtext all their own. These times are supposed to be the “glory days.” For the most part, we see the superficial exterior, but there is a hidden side, a dark one, and this dark side is growing.

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Kyle was a well-liked athlete from my high school. I knew him as the quiet guy who I’d pass in the cafeteria or watch at a wrestling match amid cheers of enthusiasm. One day I found out from a friend that Kyle had been missing all day and into the night, after leaving his house alone with a shotgun (not so unusual an occurrence in my backwoods, hunting-avid town). I calmly dismissed my friends’ worried comments...suicide? In our town? But the next morning, eerily quiet hallways and the lack of eye contact in my usually bustling high school recalled the previous night’s conversation. A crackling announcement on the PA system confirmed the worst. Kyle had been found, early that morning, dead by his own hand.

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I found myself unnaturally affected by Kyle’s death, as I cried with friends who had known him much more intimately than I had. Why could I not stop tears from flowing about a boy I had barely known? Teachers tried to impart their wisdom in cliché phrases associated with tragedy: Death is a natural part of life, there’s nothing anyone could have done, imagine the pain he must have been in—that’s over now. Yet I failed to see anything natural about a 16-year-old, with over a half century left in their natural life, losing all hope in the world. I didn’t see how one extreme act could end all the anguish he must have felt. I didn’t know it at the time, but such cases are far from unusual. Two years later, in college, it touched me again.

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I knew Danielle as my older brother’s girlfriend. Just the fact that my picky brother had stayed with one girl for over a month told me there must be something special about this one. Danielle seemed perfect: a pre-med major, athletic, friendly, and pretty. She was the kind of person who can’t help themself from singing out loud. The first time we met her, she brought my mom flowers and Godiva chocolates. We got snowed in together and compared stories about our eccentric families. She was part of the family, enough said

Weeks later, I gravitated between shock and disbelief when I received my brother’s message, “Danielle is in the hospital; Danielle is sick.” Although he wouldn’t talk more about it at the time, I later learned that Danielle had been battling with depression for quite a while. She had attempted to kill herself. It’s true that life is under no obligation to follow our expectations, but how could I have not been aware of suffering to that extent?

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Needing answers, I spoke with Dr. Keith King, assistant professor of Health Promotion and Education at the University of Cincinnati. He has researched and published extensively on youth suicide prevention. Dr. King told me that, since the 1950’s, while the suicide rate for the overall public remained stable, the suicide rate among teens has more than tripled. In his own words, “We are truly facing an epidemic.”

Currently, suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15 to 19. What’s even more frightening is the fact that for every teen suicide completion approximately 100-200 attempts are made. Those are the facts, but I still had so many questions in mind, like, why is this happening? Dr. King explained that, based on most professional literature and research, teens face a variety of stressors unique to their own age, while lacking the experience, maturity and coping skills to adequately deal with such stressors.

A sense of family and peer connectedness is critical in preventing teen suicide. King says, “Family and friends can help prevent suicide by building positive connections with youth and by knowing the risk factors and warning signs to adolescent suicide.” These behavioral warning signs include acting depressed, being isolated, being alienated, giving away cherished possessions, becoming withdrawn, changes in behavior and the use of drugs and alcohol. Verbal warning signs include talking excessively about death and suicide or threatening suicide. Dr. King feels that suicide is unquestionably preventable if people become more educated on mental health issues. He says, “Know the warning signs and build positive connections. More than 80% of youths who attempt suicide will offer warning signs.” Dr. King also believes that most of the public does not feel comfortable dealing with mental health issues. People would often rather not discuss such issues and pretend that they don’t exist. “Many who are depressed will not seek treatment because they fear being stigmatized as ‘crazy’ or ‘loony.’” Perhaps this is why so many people don’t speak out, but carry on in silence, until their pain becomes too much for them and death seems a likely answer.

Another sort of alarm should be going off in your head, a different sort of wake-up call. It should be saying there is nothing wrong with needing help, nothing offensive about reaching out to support someone. But now the power that had the ability to pull you out of a warm bed is asking not to be ignored. The spark that drives you is there for a reason. Use it.