WP5

A recommended solution in standard form to address the question

selected in WP1
A best explanation argument in prose form based on WP4

Recommended Solution:
LQ: How can we, as individuals, contribute to lowering New Zealand's
unacceptably high teen suicide rate?
OC: The global suicide rate is 7.4 for every 100,000 people (Wasserman, Cheng
& Jiang, 2005).
DC: The teenage suicide rate in New Zealand is more than 1.5 times the mean
for teenage suicide globally (Wasserman et al., 2005).
RR1: Offer mental health services that help teenagers deal with depression at
highschool.
RR2: Reducing the access to common methods of committing suicide.
RR3: Increasing the awareness of suicide among parents of teenagers.
P1: Untreated depression is the leading cause for suicide.
P2: Offering mental health services at high schools will support teenagers by
helping them cope with depression.
P3: Restrictive legislation regarding accessibility to common means of suicide
would make it hard for teenagers to commit suicide.
P4: Raising the awareness of symptoms of depression would help parents pick up
on warning signs that their teenager is depressed so that they can intervene
early.
Therefore, probably
BR: To contribute to the decrease of New Zealands teenage suicide rate, we
should offer mental health services at highschool and encourage teenagers to
use them.

References:

WASSERMAN, D., CHENG, Q., & JIANG, G.-X. (2005). Global suicide rates among
young people aged 15-19. World Psychiatry, 4(2), 114120.
Best Explanation argument:
I wish to explain why the teenage suicide rate in New Zealand is higher than the
teenage suicide rate in the world. In New Zealand, the mean teenage suicide
rate is 1.5 times the global mean suicide rate. I believe that the rate is so high
because teenagers in New Zealand teenagers do not get help with the
depression they face.

I have thought about several possible explanations for why teenagers do not get
help with their depression. One possibility is that New Zealanders have a
negative attitude towards suicidal thoughts and thus will not share their suicidal
thoughts because of it. Another explanation is that teenagers do not know where
to go for help with their depression, leaving their depression untreated. A third
possible explanation is that parents do not consider a pressing issue and as a
result do not pick up on the symptoms of depression. We cannot rule out the
possibility that there are other factors that impact the high suicide rate other
than untreated depression, however most suicides are the result of untreated
depression (Suicide.org, n.d).

It is not unreasonable to assume that teenagers find it hard to speak up about

depression if they believe that the people they are talking to may consider it a
negative emotion. Teenagers that find it hard to talk about suicidal thoughts will
not take advantage of dedicated services surrounding mental health regardless
of the amount of dedicated services. Teenagers must feel comfortable to talk
about these thoughts or they will not get treatment for their depression. On the
other hand, although initially seeking help for depression may be a daunting
task, the benefits that come from finding help and getting treatment could
outweigh the uncomfortableness of asking for help. I believe that although there
is a stigma surrounding depression if teenagers understand that there is
treatment for depression they would be more inclined to get help regardless of
how uncomfortable it may be. New Zealand needs better mental health services
(Johnston, 2016). The known benefits of getting treatment for depression may
reduce the uncomfortableness for teenagers trying to get help.
Teenagers that find it hard to find treatment for their depression may give up and
leave their depression untreated. Liam Martin was a New Zealander that suffered
with depression and did not know where to get help (Johnston, 2016). Teenagers
like Martin that do not know where to get help may feel reluctant to continue
searching. This could leave them feeling isolated and believing that they could
not overcome the current state they are in. To overcome this teenagers must be
informed of available mental health services so that they are reassured that
there are always places where they can find help. Teenagers must feel like there
are options for them and that they can get treatment for their depression. If
teenagers were aware that they could get treatment for their depression and
overcome it they would feel that suicide is not their only option.
Parents that do not consider suicide a pressing issue for teens will not pick up on
the symptoms of depression early enough to intervene. Parents that are made
aware of the symptoms of depression would be on the lookout for warning signs
that hints their teenager may commit suicide and be able to get them help (Roy,
2015). Raising the awareness of the frequency of suicide in New Zealand and the
symptoms surrounding it can enable parents to be on the lookout for teenagers
that need help. On the other hand, if teenagers felt like they could talk about
their depression, parents would not need to be on the lookout for it. Raising
awareness of suicide among parents could potentially be a preventative measure
but it does not directly address depression.

Although untreated depression is not always the cause of teenage suicide in New
Zealand, it is the most common cause. Teenage suicide among New Zealanders
could be from not knowing where to get help and their parents not being able to
see the warning signs. However, I believe that the primary issue is the stigma
surrounding depression. If teenage New Zealanders felt they could talk to anyone
about their depression, they would realise that they can overcome their
depression. Teenagers want to overcome depression and if they felt they could
talk to people around them regardless of whether they knew about mental health
services they would receive the guidance from those closest to them and their
parents would not need to be on the lookout for symptoms.

It seems to me that if we had to select a single explanation of why the teenage

suicide rate in New Zealand is so high, it would be explained by teenagers being
too uncomfortable to speak up because of the stigma surrounding depression.

References:

Johnston, M. (2016, October 18). Increase in suicides shows New Zealand needs
better mental health services - survivor - National - NZ Herald News. Retrieved
May 20, 2017, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?
c_id=1&objectid=11731394
Roy, E. (2015, October 19.). The highest rate of teen suicide in the developed
world. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/85305366/the-highest-rate-of-teen-suicide-
in-the-developed-world
Suicide Causes. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2017, from
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-causes.html
WASSERMAN, D., CHENG, Q., & JIANG, G.-X. (2005). Global suicide rates among
young people aged 15-19. World Psychiatry, 4(2), 114120.