I'm so old I used to babysit for 25 cents/hour and all the Coke and potato chips I could eat. The cool thing was getting to watch TV (black and white) until all hours of the night. There was always a public service announcement that said in a dark, ominous voice: "Do you know where your children are?"
The risks to teens today must be twenty times the risk back then. A recent New York Times article pointed out that parents and friend of teens today have option to access an alert that may let them know where their children "are" today. Teens today are subject to many more stressors than teens in my youth. Depression, bullying, lack of self-esteem . . . all kinds of things are going on that make it important to stay in touch with where teens "are" -- not geographically, but emotionally.
"For adolescents, Facebook and other social media have created an irresistible forum for online sharing and oversharing, so much so that endless mood-of-the-moment updates have inspired a snickering retort on T-shirts and posters: “Face your problems, don’t Facebook them.”
"But specialists in adolescent medicine and mental health experts say that dark postings should not be hastily dismissed because they can serve as signs of depression and an early warning system for timely intervention. Whether therapists should engage with patients over Facebook, however, remains a matter of debate.
"And parents have their own conundrum: how to distinguish a teenager’s typically melodramatic mutterings — like the “worst day of my life” rants about their “frenemies,” academics or even cafeteria food — from a true emerging crisis."
Recent research showed that about 30 percent of teens posted updates on Facebook that met the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria for a symptom of depression, reporting feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness, insomnia or sleeping too much, and difficulty concentrating. According to the NY Times approach, this study echoed research that suggests depression is increasingly common among college students.
Hoffman wrote:
"Sometimes the warnings are seen in hindsight. Before 15-year-old Amanda Cummings committed suicide by jumping in front of a bus near her Staten Island home on Dec. 27, her Facebook updates may have revealed her anguish. On Dec. 1, she wrote: 'then ill go kill myself, with these pills, this knife, this life has already done half the job.' "
Read the entire article here: Hoffman, Jan. Trying to Find a Cry of Desperation Amid the Facebook Drama, NY Times, February 23, 2012.
with suicide everyone blames themselves...mom's dad's sister's bro's friend's..please don't blame yourselves. i have been on both sides...with suicide the victums find a finally peace,BUT WITH HELP,NOT JUST MEDS[meds didn't help me] HAVING SOMEONE WHO CARES...SOMEONE WHO MAKES THAT 911 CALL TO GET SOMEONE HELP. when i was thinking about suicide,i was saved by the love of my sister. comming back from that low was slow..but well worth it!
now divorced from my abusive wife,the love i feel from everyone else...oh what a change. i love life..i love myself.
someone putting myself down,added to my own self hate.
i had to learn to love myself...how did i do that? started thinking..everyone loves my dad..he is kind,caring,willing to help others,honest loving.....then it hit me..i am like dad..people do love me..i am kind,caring,honest...why..WHY am i beating myself up? being away from an abusive ex wife has helped greatly. ABUSE ONLY MAKES US FEEL POORLY ABOUT OURSELVES!
we must stop abuse! we must show love!! we must not be affraid to get help to anyone showing signs of depression!
diet[stay away from sugars,EXERCISE,VITAMINS,getting depressed people out of the house to enjoy things..like a movie..sporting events..listening to music...to go shopping..but get them out of the house!! at 1st..i didn't want to go..my buddy said..LETS GO!! i turned him down many times..but he kept after me! for me it was going to a bar to eat..then listening to kids play there drums at school....keep asking to go to different places,until the depressed wants to go. push them to get out..but more important..just show them love!!
lynn..a very happy..VERY HAPPY 59 YR OLD MALE
Posted by: LYNN | February 29, 2012 at 06:16 AM