Over eight-million teens in the United States are affected by depression and it is considered the leading cause of suicide among teens. Depression among teens isn’t really hard to fathom in today’s society of divorce, jailed parents, drug usage, quests to be perfectly thin, peer pressure, etc.. that often leave children to cope with feelings of being unwanted, unloved, and unworthy.

While the teen suicide epidemic has consistently grown from the 80’s to 90’s to present, it is a preventable happening in many cases. Most studies of depressed teens echo the same key sentiment- when a teen tries to tell their parent(s) about their plight, it is either ignored or denied its’ actuality. Parents too often chalk the child’s complaints up to “the routine of going through adolescence”…. instead of seeking out professional help and being an advocate for their child’s wellbeing. Meanwhile, the child desperately seeks the recognition, attention, love, etc.. that they are craving.

I am not a psychologist. However, my non-professional opinion is that the recognition of the child’s problem might just be the key element to preventing suicide.

Students at Henry M. Gunn High School, in Palo Alto California, are prime examples. This high school has had four student suicides and one attempted student suicide in the last seven months. William Dickens, 16, Jean-Paul Blanchard, 17, Sonya Raymakers, 17, and Catrina Holmes, 13 all went to the same railroad crossing (at different dates) to throw themselves in front of a speeding train. A fifth student went to the crossing, but was forced from the tracks after his mother suspected something might be wrong and followed him to the crossing.

After each suicide, students and members of the community constructed shrines near the tracks. Students used social media sites to remember each of their classmates. School and community officials scheduled community meetings and set up grief counselors after the second suicide. Members of the community suggested a permanent memorial be erected. Some teachers found it difficult to carry on with lesson plans immediately after each suicide and decided to let the students talk about whatever was on their minds. All of these are appropriate responses. However, it might also benignly prove my point about recognition seeking. Other depressed students see the attention, love, and recognition that these suicide victims received in death, but obviously lacked in life. So, the act not only becomes glamorous for an already suicidal or depressed teen, but it also becomes their proof that suicide is the key to whatever they seek, but feel that they can not obtain in life.

The premise behind my theory here is not in an effort to defame the grief process for those that have committed suicide, but just use it to point out that if suicidal and depressed teens can be taken seriously by whomever they turn for help (getting the recognition that they are seeking) then, they can be guided to a professional. And, we might can prevent suicide from being the third leading cause of death among teens.