10 year old girls commit suicide?

I think bullying is a huge factor that has become more insidious with the advent of tweens using IM, chat, myspace, etc online. But long before the Internet, being bullied led me to seriously consider suicide as a 9 year old. So while I find the statistic sad, I don't find it implausible.

Liza
Founder & Coordinator, LesbianFamily.org ( http://www.lesbianfamily.org/ )
Personal Blog, LizaWasHere ( http://www.lizawashere.com/ )

I don't have a daughter, but have raised 2 sons, so have some experience with kids. My best friend's daughter suffered from major depression after her best friend committed suicide.

The focus on things such as anti-depressants makes me angry, because it serves as an insulating layer to distance all of us further from the underlying issues.

There often isn't a great deal we can do for kids who are trapped in a seriously dysfunctional family environment (for example), but I believe that we always should do what we can. Talk to kids whenever the opportunity presents itself and even seek out those opportunities if we want to help. Talk about caring, about how things are screwed up, about how that doesn't mean we have to accept it or condone it, about what we each can do and believe in and contribute.

I've found that teens are often shocked or surprised when an adult just talks to them as an equal because it happens too seldom. We tend to talk about them more than we talk to them. Sure a lot of them are awkward, angry, etc. Some of us were, too.

I'm not surprised by this statistic, but that's only because I attended a QPR Suicide Prevention ( http://www.qprinstitute.com/CommunitiesDH.htm ) training at my church last night.

QPR stands for Question, Persuade, Refer and it helps all members of a community recognize symptoms of someone who may be thinking of suicide and offers training to help people and save lives.

I couldn't believe it when the trainer told us that the 3rd leading cause of death of persons 10-17 is suicide. I couldn't imagine what could cause these children and teens to feel so hopeless that they'd consider taking their own lives!

I do agree, we need more answers to these difficult questions about suicide.

Dana from The Dana Files ( http://thedanafiles.com ).

But I think I might remember a few from general time frame being actual hangings. Hmm yep...I just went and checked and It's a Girl's World ( http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/girls_world/ ) was filmed in 2003 and released in 2004. (That link has recommended reading - can I just say for a moment how much I love that Judy Blume's Blubber is still considered on of the best books for girls on bullying?)

I think it's probably a combination of factors. Catherine probably hit the nail on the head with the "choking game" accounting for some of them. I think peer pressure/bullying/perfect girl syndrome plays into it too. In terms of bullying I don't think girls have gotten meaner since 1990 - I think that technology allows them to invade other girls lives at a whole other level now though. With blogs and IM and myspace and email and text messaging and facebook it's darned near impossible for girls that are being picked on to get away from their bullies.

Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca/ ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.wordpress.com/ ).

I read this story earlier. It's so sad. It seems the media is focusing on the confusion over anti-depressants as the major issue for this increase. But, the thing that popped out at me when I read this story was this...

The analysis also found that changes had taken place in the methods used to attempt suicide. In 1990, firearms were the most common method for both girls and boys. However, in 2004, hanging/suffocation was the most common method of suicide among girls, accounting for 71.4 percent of suicides among 10- to-14-year-old girls and 49 percent among 15-to-19 year-old girls. From 2003 to 2004, there was a 119 percent increase in hanging/suffocation suicides among 10-to -14-year-old girls. For boys and young men, firearms are still the most common method.

It made me think about stories I have heard of a "choking game ( http://www.dylan-the-boy-blake.com/index.html )". Children are dying from this game in what seems like a suicide, but it s really an accidental death from asphyxiation. They are playing a game to get a "high", but if they do it too long it can kill them.

Do you think this could be playing a role in these new statistics?

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at Women 4 Hope ( http://women4hope.wordpress.com/ ) and Informed Voters ( http://informedvoters.wordpress.com/ )