Though suicide is one of the leading causes of death among the young generation, parents in most cases fail to identify their children's mental status and take appropriate measures to avoid their children's risks for self injury and suicide.
Bringing new hopes, a researcher from University of Missouri has identified the factors that can help parents in avoiding such tragedies.
To enable this, Lindsay Taliaferro, an assistant professor of health sciences at MU, looked at 60,000 high school students part of a 2007 Minnesota Student Survey. More than 4,000 teens were found injuring themselves and half of them attempted suicide. Hopelessness was a major factor that prompted most of them to attempt suicide.
"For many young people, suicide represents an escape from unbearable situations-problems that seem impossible to solve or negative emotions that feel overwhelming," said Taliaferro, in a news release. "Adults can help these teens dissect their problems, help them develop healthful coping strategies, and facilitate access to mental health care so their problems don't seem insurmountable."
The researcher recommends parents to maintain a friendly and strong relationship with their children that make them to share their feelings with them.
"One of the most important protective factors against teens engaging in self injury was parent connectedness," Taliaferro explained, adding "Parents are extremely valuable influences in their children's lives."
"Adults don't need to solve all the teens' problems, but they should let the teens know they have safe persons they can talk to. Sometimes just talking about their feelings allows young people to articulate what they're going through and to feel understood, which can provide comfort."
After finding symptoms of depression or any kind of disturbance in children, parents should consult a mental health professional or medical professional and start treatments before the situation becomes worse.
Findings of the study have been published in Academic Pediatrics.
