Entertainment Tonight recently reported that TV and music star Marie Osmond’s 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, committed suicide last Friday in Los Angeles. In his suicide note, he described a life-long battle with depression, the reason for his suicide.
Osmond said Michael became depressed after she and her ex-husband, Brian Blosil, separated, and that he entered rehab in November 2007.
According to suicide.org, a teen takes his or her own life every 100 minutes. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. Approximately 20 percent of teens experience depression before they reach adulthood, and between 10 to 15 percent suffer from symptoms at any one time. Only 30 percent of depressed teens are being treated for it.
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this is really good info.
People, particularly teens tend to communicate more via facebook or text messages. Technology is dehumanizing people. On top of that there is the culture of cruelty; teens can have a tendency to be meaner to their peers. No wonder teens feel and are more depressed. People do not care for each other as much as they used to.
its so sad to hear this, glad i am taking part in helping teens feel part
I truly feel compassion for people who are living through a depression right now and get to suffer the psychological stress that a depression brings with it.
The best thing that such a person can do, if they are reading this, is to accept complete responsibility for the way they feel (which is the hard part because when we feel depressed we tend to blame somebody else for our own state of mind), then to acknowledge that they have a small issue that needs fixing (a problem defined is half solved) and finally to seek out ways to help themselves (being proactive about it).
This process of recovery might include either networking with people who have been through the same depressive period or studying psychology and trying to understand your own problem better in order to be able to tackle it yourself.
Doing it on your own is a rough road to walk though and it takes many years, but the upside is that you learn how to maintain a positive and joyful state of mind no matter what is happening in your life so you become in a sense immune to depression for the rest of your life.
Then again, isn’t depression simply a part of being a teen?
It’s only temporary and if you just hold on tight and let the time pass until you are about 19-22 then your depression will vanish completely and you will find yourself enjoying your life more than ever before.
You forgot to mention one big reason teens are in a depressed state of mind that causes them to commit suicide. Being “Bullied”!!! When a child/teen gets bullied so much and their parents and/or school administrators are not doing anything to curb the problem, these kids are getting fed up and commiting what we call, “BULLYCIDE”. Look at the case in Mass. just last month. Phoebe commited bullycide because she couldn’t cope with being bullied anymore because no-one in her school stopped that other girl from bullying her. 2 days before Phoebe commited bullycide, the girl in question chased her around the school grounds yelling at her that she was going to kill Phoebe. At that point somene should have stepped in and did something. Please go to our website listed here and see for yourself the cause and effects of bullying it has on kids. You’ll be suprised.
being sensitive, having a LOT of thoughts and feelings about this world gone crazy where i don’t really belong, mixed with a deep fascination of what is at the ‘end’ of it all and whats the point to it all, is why i have been riding life with so called ‘depression’. The difference between making it and not making it, on this journey, in my opinion is finding another soul that ‘hears’ you. Being ‘met’ or ‘known’ deeply in spirit. Some of us find a ‘god’ to hear us, some find ‘imaginary friends’, ‘real friends’, ‘professional friends’ or ‘management strategies’. BUt they are all guides to walk WITH us out of this mess. Remember that EVERYTHING you feel is OK and probably ‘NORMAL’ in this crazy and messy world. We must Talk freely about our struggle with life and any ‘depression’ and NOT as if its an illness. If we become at ease with it, it will not become a disease. For me it is becoming a guide to healthy living. KNow that you are loved !
It is the music they listen to. If you had to listen to the music that is aimed at the teenager market then the chance the you’ll be thinking of suicide as well goes much higher.
Just go read the lyrics of popular groups like My Chemical Romance (just one example, there are many). Nearly all their songs are about suicide.
Songs like “the ghost of you”:
I never said I’d lie and wait forever
If I died, we’d be together
I can’t always just forget her
But she could try
At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I? Should I?
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever ever…
Ever…
Get the feeling that you’re never
All alone and I remember now
At the top of my lungs in my arms she dies
She dies
At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I? Should I?
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I? Should I?
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me
For all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me
If I fall
If I fall (down)
At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are
Never coming home
Never coming home
Never coming home
Never coming home
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I? Should I?
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me
————————————————
What you spend most of your time reading, listening watching will fill your thoughts.
I’m sorry but I disagree with you. It isn’t just the music we listen to. I am a depressed teen, I was listening to groups such as My Chemical Romance before I became depressed and was perfectly fine, so you can’t put 100% of the blame on the music, it’s the teens decision whether they go through with the suicidal thoughts they have or the thoughts of running away from home. Some teens may resort to listening to that type of music because it expresses what they feel like they can’t. People need to wake up and see that! I’m sick and tired of hearing that the rock and metal genres of music is the cause of teen depression.
No, I’m sorry but you are so wrong. I considered this concept once myself, but then I realized;
We don’t relate to this music because we listen to it, we listen to it because we relate to it. Music is expression, and lyrics can help you to to understand yourself better. When I’m upset, I choose to listen to a sad song that reflects how I feel because it feels like another force empathizing with me. I realize I am not alone feeling this way, and I can allow the music to think for me for a change, while still being true to how I am feeling, instead of just being lost in my own mess of thoughts.
We get sick of pretending everything is fine when we are actually dying inside, so we aren’t about to go listen to some happy song about how Lisa met Joe and they fell madly in love and had twenty babies and bought a private island and lived happily ever after. We’re going to search for some sympathy to help us cope and escape at the same time, in a way that is refreshingly honest and involves as little self-inflicted harm as possible. If I didn’t have music I don’t know what I would do. I don’t think I could live with out it. So please, do not blame the music.
I am a student from the International School of Bangkok. In my English class I am searching information about depression for a project: I read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and I interviewed my counselor. I agree that one of the main causes of depression is the abuse of substance such as alcohol and drugs. I believe also that another big cause of teen depression is school; a lot of students get depressed and feel stresses from their school projects and assignments.
this is very good info. ill be letting my mother to check this sight out because i do belive that one of my siblinges are depressed just by how she acts.
I am a teen, and I’m not sure whether or not to say I’m depressed. By now I would say I am, but I don’t know what to do about it. I looked at this site, as well as many others to prove to myself if I am or not. My friends can only do so much. I am very independent, but I love my friends. Just today, I was thinking about killing myself. Most people would say that its stupid, but I can’t help it from crossing my mind. People don’t pick on me, I really have a lot of really good friends. I just constantly am upset, and sometimes I have to ask myself why. I can’t tell my parents. They wouldn’t understand. My life really is almost normal. I am not, but my life is. If anyone can help me, please tell me. I don’t like talking to people, or “letting out all of my feelings” I have tried that, and it ends up in me crying and getting more upset. I am really stuck on what to do. I have had people leave me because I was too depressing. At age 13 I know more than most 18 year olds about life. I think that is part of it. I am so wise, everyone comes to me with their problems, and I know how to fix them. I help people all the time, put them before me. Now I want help with my problems. The ones I don’t know how to fix….
Ruby, I know how you feel. I can relate exactly to what you said, but you need to know that help is here! Talk to your parents, they will understand and help you right away because they love you. Few months ago I was very depressed and thought of suicide every minute of the day. I finally opened up to my family and trust me, it was worth it! I am now taking antidepressant and feeling a lot better. You gotta keep going, we need wise people like you in the future
. Excuse my english, it is not the language I tend to speak.
I wish you the best, stay strong!
Ruby,
If you really thinking of killing yourself, please reach out to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Hi my name is a Deema a student in high school senior year 19 yrs old and a half . I’ve been having depression since when I start 15 yrs old well actually the truth story why I’m having it coz when I was a child 10 yrs old my parent got divorce then I had to live with my mum one year and half without seeing my father then when I stayed in school in Manchester they use to bully me . So I said I want to live with my dad which he lived all the way in Saudia Arabia in jeddah with my stepmom so so many fights happened even my sister tried to kill herself before she stab her hand and full of blood came but then she survives because of our life messed up then now my mum is having breast cancer so my depression is becoming worst since when I was a child and during my puberty no one have told me about it I was shock and feel unprotected and insecure coz when my sis tries to kill herself I didn’t want to save her I was just calm sleeping in my bedroom all night by myself so help me pls my dad wouldn’t even wanna take me to the hosp he said its a waste of money !!!
This still doesn’t tell me WHY teenagers are depressed. Is it school? friends? Ex boyfriends etc. Not good.
You know guys, i thank all of you to share your good comments to depressed teens like us….hopefully there are many of you in the world so that lesser teens will be depressed and lesser teenage suicide cases.
thank you so much i feel much better now…