Paper Example on Risk Factors That Push Teenagers to Commit Suicide

Introduction

Mental status examination (MSE) refers to the practice that analyses the psychological health of patients. MSE is a very significant practice that gathers and analyzes the information about a patient who is physical presence of the nurse. The main reason for conducting a mental status examination is to gain the observable evidence about the patient's mental health for the benefit of the patient and others. The given case study focuses on the various mental challenges teenagers undergo during their developmental stage. The stage involves myriads of problems which not only affect their lives but also impacts their family life in a very significant way. According to the case study, the young teenage interviewee reveals that teenagers encounter many stressful situations in their lives as they grow into adulthood. In this transition stage, there are a lot of problems that sieve into the emotions of these people which makes them behave strangely or uncommonly. As a result, suicidal thoughts set into their minds. The Mental State Examination (MSE) helps in the analysis of the patient's state of mind. It helps in the study and understanding a patient's mental condition or status to aid in prescribing the most appropriate kind of medication required for the correct treatment for the patient's condition. The causal factors that push teens to have such weird emotions, thoughts and behaviors are referred to as the risk factors. Some of these factors may be inherited from parents and the ancestral lineage whereby, there was a member of the ancestral families who had an attempt to commit suicide or who committed the suicide. The effect is, therefore, get transmitted downwards along the ancestral bloodline. The following are the primary risk factors that push teenagers to commit suicide.

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Mental or psychological problems such as depression or any other disorders associated with the moods disorders, social anxiety, and schizophrenia. The mental disorders are most often associated with embarrassments, discrimination, or negative social perspectives. When one has a mental illness, the community members such as the members of the age group, fellow students, and others may view him or her as someone with no meaningful life. The discrimination that comes as a result of having mental illness may sometimes complicate the life of the patient making him, or she feels disconnected and abandoned by the community. Such a patient may end up losing hope in life and may decide to commit suicide.

Substance abuse can also become one of the primary causes of suicidal practices among the youths. The substances such as alcohol, bhang, or cocaine may make someone lose the personal autonomy and stamina which are very crucial for having standing ideas and the integral decision-making skills. Once the patient is drunk or is under the control of other substances, he might carry out self-harm out of consciousness. The influence of substance abuse as a form of the risk factor of teenage suicide, however, cannot stand alone since there are several other factors which go together with the deciding to carry out self-harm. The mental state examination helps prevent such occurrences by putting the appropriate measures which auger well with the patient's state of mind and avoid the possible self-imposed disaster.

The abuse or mistreatment may also be one of the main factors influencing the teenage suicide attempts. For example, when a lady is raped, she may be carried by the painful feelings of rage and the acute discomfort. By gauging the aftermath of the situation including the persistent haunts, embarrassments, or discrimination that she will face in the society afterward, the lady may decide to commit suicide to avoid all such stressful conditions. Mental State Examination integrates various professional measures which seek to give care to the victims of such unscrupulous conditions through comfort and encouragement.

Physical sufferings from a terminal disease may put the patient in extremely excruciating pain which may convince them to commit suicide to avoid the further experience of pains. Many patients, not only the teenagers but also the adult patients may wish to commit suicide as a way of escaping from the acute pains when the chances of living become increasingly minimal. The mental state examination helps nurses to find out and control such cases by studying the behavior of patients, the way they carry out themselves, attitudes, and feelings. Such analysis gives the required breakthrough to the registered nurse to apply the professional practices to help the patient in making better decisions.

According to the case study, the mindset of teenagers may also become a significant risk factor for committing suicide among the teenagers. This may include factors such as hopelessness in the future outcomes leading to acute stress among the teens and therefore, may lead to self-harm if the person does not get an urgent remedy to the problem. The problem of hopelessness is closely associated with low self-esteem whereby, the teenagers tend to compare themselves with their colleagues then feel inadequate. As a result, this leads to a loss of self-worth and subsequently the person loses personal autonomy and control in life. The only thing that may come into the mind of such a person is to commit suicide to alleviate the effects of living a very hopeless life. The other signs associated with the negative mindset involve depression associated with nihilism. By carrying out the mental status examination, the healthcare professionals can identify such a case and conduct the most appropriate means of rectification for the problem either to prevent it from occurring and give the remedies for future attempts.

The mood is also another significant factor that contributes to many incidences of self-harm. Mood swings are very dangerous especially if the person is under some mental complications. Patients' moods can be interpreted using the clues of their emotional displays such as the feeling of anger, or depression. The other significant indicators of dangerous mood swings include the anxiety, sadness, being euphoric, unstable or easily irritable even with the straightforward matter. The mood swings may make some patients especially those with immature emotions to feel very ill about themselves and may completely get turned off to such a point of committing suicide. Persons with such strict emotions need a very carefully designed and planned professional dealing to avoid the situation getting out of hand. The function of mental status examination is highly justified by the role it plays in an attempt to put things right into place and restore the moods of such patients to avoid the suicidal deaths especially among the patients with bad temperaments.

According to the case study, disturbances of one's perception may also be a significant risk factor for most teenage suicide deaths. Among the most common indicators of negative perceptions involve hallucinations, illusions, and even the organically caused risk factors. Wrong perceptions about oneself may make teens become very sensitive about themselves and possibly alter their interests, turning them from more positive to more negative. As a result, much stress is born which spurs a wide range of ill-feelings which not only affects the person but also cause great restrictions on the family. The remedy for such problems involves the application of more analytical measures of guidance and counseling.

The other risk factor for suicide in teenagers is the sexual orientation. No one would wish to be the odd one out in the population. The primary genders are males and females. However, the teenager may be bisexual. The stress which arises from discrimination among the agemates may prove to be too strong to withstand. Hence, the person may stay embarrassed every time they interact with others. As a result, the teenager may choose to stay alone most of the time to avoid the stress accrued during interaction with others. Due to this lonely lifestyle, the teenager may be so much depressed due to the acute loneliness while away from others, the discrimination while interacting with others, and the general stereotyping practices by members of the community. Since humans are social beings, staying alone for an extended period may be very difficult. The person may feel unworthy to keep on living such a stressful life that they may decide to commit suicide to get rid of the stressful situation. Moreover, in the case where the teenager identifies himself as a gay or herself as a lesbian, they will not feel okay to freely interact with other people especially those who condemn gays, or lesbianism. The discrimination they get from others makes them feel very inadequate to exist freely in the community. Such stressful situations may expose teenagers to make a very weird decision in their life. The resulting kinds of decisions which they are most likely to end up to are the decision to harm themselves in the hope of achieving comfort away from the stressful life with the people who discriminate them and are not willing to accommodate them just as they are. The mental status examination is, therefore, very significant to help solve such problems by engaging them through a special guidance and counseling.