The Human Odyssey

Teen Suicide Rate Soars

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates a big increase in the percentage of teenage suicides from 2003 to 2004 (the most current years for which comprehensive statistics are available).  For all young people between the ages of 10 and 24, the suicide rate rose 8 percent.  This is the biggest single year increase in fifteen years.  The largest increase was in the suicide rate for girls aged 10-14, where it went up 78 percent in one year, from 56 suicides in 2003 to 94 suicides in 2004.  Suicide rates for girls 15-19 increased 32 percent, and for boys in that age bracket, the rate went up 9 percent.  Another dramatic development is in the method that older children and adolescents are now using to kill themselves;  the use of firearms has declined, while the use of hanging or suffocation has increased substantially, now accounting for 71 percent of all the suicides in girls aged 10-14. 

Experts are puzzled by the rise in the number of teen suicides.  Some have suggested that the increase may be related to a decline in the use of antidepressants with teenagers ever since public attention was focused on the suicide risk that antidepressants might hold for depressed adolescents just beginning antidepressant (SSRI) drug theapy.  Others point to the increasingly turbulent lives of teenagers in the 21st century.  Richard Lieberman, the coordinator of the suicide prevention program in the L.A. Public School System noted in an Associated Press release:    "There's a lot of pressure in and around middle school kids. They're kind of all transition kids. They're turbulent times to begin with . . . The hotline's been ringing off the hook with middle school kids experimenting with a wide variety of self-injurious behavior, exploring different ways to hurt themselves."

Risk factors associated with teen suicide or suicide attempts include:  a previous suicide attempt, depression, alcohol/drug abuse, a family history of mental disorders, substance abuse, stressful life experiences, and/or access to firearms, poisons, or other methods of committing suicide (including hanging and suffocation).

Warning signs of suicide in a young person may include, a sudden change in personality, relationship problems with peers, chronic boredom or difficulty concentrating, comments or writings about suicide, substance abuse problems, major traumas or life transitions, psychosomatic complaints, change in eating or sleeping patterns, deteriorating performance in school, giving away highly-prized personal possessions, negative self-statements, self-destructive behavior, and/or chronic sadness or anxiety.

If you know an adolescent who is considering suicide, or if you are a young person considering suicide, get help immediately by calling 1-800-SUICIDE or by looking up in your local phone book a suicide hotline or crisis center, or find a trusted friend, relative, or mental health professional that you can talk to about what's bothering you so that you can get help right away.

For more information (including screening programs, list of warning signs, and treatment options), go to these resources:

SafeYouth.org

SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Programs

Teen Suicide.us

Yellow Ribbon International Suicide Prevention Program

SaferChild.org

This article is syndicated on Reuters via Basil & Spice

College Drinking May Lead to Later Heart Disease

A new report presented at the American Heart Association's 8th Annual Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology in Chicago last week, suggests that college students who drink heavily may be setting themselves up for heart problems later on in life.  The research measured levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in college students who had different drinking patterns (CRP is a blood marker for inflammation that can increase the risk of heart disease). Those who drank heavily (defined as having three or more drinks at least three days per week, or five or more drinks at least two days per week) had significantly higher levels of CRP than those who drank moderately (two to five drinks of alcohol one to two days a week).  A drink was defined as:  12 oz. of beer, 5 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz of hard alcohol. "If students are drinking heavily, they probably are going to progress to heart disease much more rapidly," said co-author Amy Olson, a professor of nutrition at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.  At the same time, the study noted that non-drinkers (those who consume no more than one drink a week), had higher CRP levels than moderate drinkers, suggesting that some alcohol may actually lower inflammation in the circulatory system.  While the study only looked at 25 college students, and CRP levels can fluctuate due to a number of factors (having a cold, smoking, being overweight etc.), it still serves as a red flag to college students, warning them that binge drinking or heavy drinking may not only cause immediate problems (vomiting, blackouts, accidents), but may continue to haunt them for years, and even decades to come.  To read Dr. Sanjay Gupta's article on this research at Time.com, click here.  To read about it on WebMD, click here.  To contact the co-author of the study, Dr. Amy Olson, click here.

Young Adult with Huntington's Disease Gene Chooses to Visit Genetic Fortune Teller

In ancient times (and still today in many parts of the world) people consulted fortune tellers or astrologers to predict their future.  In the modern scientific era, however, people have stopped consulting the stars in the heavens, and instead are beginning to consult the genes in their bodies as a way of predicting their future lives.  A recent article in the New York Times, for example, talks about young adults who are choosing to take the test that will tell them whether or not they have the gene for Huntington's Disease (HD)  Huntington's disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that usually manifests itself in midlife and causes progressive loss of motor control, loss of intellectual faculties, emotional disturbance, and ultimately death.  The most famous individual who has had Huntington's Disease was the folk singer Woody Guthrie (see photo).  A child who has a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene, which means they will inevitably develop the disease.  The gene that causes HD sits on the short arm of chromosome number 4, where the letters of the genetic alphabet normally repeat C-A-G as many as 35 times in a row (C-A-G stands for the amino acids Cytocine, Adenine, and Guanine; these three amino acids along with thymine make up the alphabet of the DNA molecule).  In people who will develop HD, however, there are more than 35 repeats.  The more repeats there are past 35, the earlier the person will develop HD. A DNA test is available that will tell individuals whether they have the gene, and even when they are likely to develop the disease.  The New York Times article highlights a 23 year old female named Katharine Moser who chose to take the test.  Ms. Moser discovered that she has the gene with 45 C-A-G repeats, which corresponds to an ontset age of 37.  One of the reasons she took the test was to know early in her adulthood how to plan for her future life.  Before she took the test, she made two lists of life goals - one list if she didn't have the gene (marriage, children, Ireland), and one list if she did (exercise, vitamins, and ballroom dancing).  Opening a bed-and- breakfast made both lists.  One has to admire Katharine Moser's courage for being willing to find out about her future.  Many young adults thoughtlessly drink, carouse, abuse their bodies, and give little thought to their later development.  While she has, as she pointed out, only 12 years left according to the test, it's likely that these years will be fuller and richer than many individuals who will live far longer.  Kudos!  Blessings!  And also hope that a cure will be found during that time!

Lower Your Blood Pressure to Protect Your Brain

A new report in the journal Neuropsychology suggests that hypertension (high blood pressure) contributes to age-related declines in the brain and cognition.  They looked at two groups of adults:  one group remained healthy for 5 years; the other group either had hypertension at the start of the study, or developed it sometime during the 5 year period.  After 5 years, the hypertension group had twice the volume of brain abnormalities called white matter hyperintensities (WMH) compared to the control group (see accompanying photo which is not from the study but which illustrates the MRIs of a control brain and a brain with WMH). A larger volume of white matter hyperintensities is associated with cognitive decline, an increased risk of dementia, and accelerated brain aging, according to another study.  The authors of the Neuropsychology study write:  "Because vascular disease can be prevented, postponed, and ameliorated by established behavioral . . . and medical . . . means, recognizing its role as a modifier of brain-behavior relationships may be important in planning future interventions in cognitive aging (Neuropsychology, March 2007, p. 155).  So, folks, there's another reason to keep that blood pressure down through exercise, diet, stress-reduction, and/or prescribed medications!

 

Young Men in Isolation: Hikikomori

A curious developmental phenomenon is occurring in Japan as a result of the stagnant economic conditions that have been present there since the early 1990's:  the emergence of a new group of young adults, mostly men, who have given up going to school or working at a job and have instead chosen to spend virtually all their time holed up in cramped apartments.  These men are called hikikomori, and they've shut themselves up in their rooms (many still live with their parents), only to emerge during the night for solo walks or other solitary adventures on the outside.  One cause of their retreat into isolation, according to interviews with the men, has to do with the schoolyard bullying that they received during their growing up years.  To learn more about this trend, see Michael Zielenziger's book Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation.

Blind Date: A Primer on Early Adult Relationships

I dislike virtually all reality shows on television these days, but there is one exception:  Blind Date.  This nationally syndicated show depicts two individuals (usually of the opposite sex) going out on a blind date.  We follow them as they go out to restaurants, boutiques, fitness centers, amusement parks, picnics, or wherever the producers have decided would be an interesting date for any particular episode. Despite being tacky, tawdry, and trashy, there is something redeeming about the show.  It provides a kind of video textbook into the promises and perils of young adult relationships.  Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson said that the single most important task of early adulthood is the development of intimacy with another person (failing which, an individual will fall into a pattern of isolation).  While the dates portrayed on Blind Date rarely ever approach any kind of real intimacy, they nevertheless show many of the elements that either promote or retard the process of getting close with another person.  One of the things I like best about the show is their use of "Pop-Ups" that appear on the screen showing what one of the partner's might be thinking, or might feel like saying (compared to what they really say), or what might be coming up in terms of a major conflict or insult, or other meta-comments about how the date is going.  We get to see how insensitivity on the part of one of the individuals causes negative emotion in the other partner, how expectations of the date are fulfilled or dashed as a result of things said or done in the course of the date, how closeness starts to develop, only to fade as an old emotional wound is touched.  While much of this is artificially contrived for reality TV (how would these people relate to each other off camera?), it still is a good starting point for great discussions about what sorts of interactions create closeness or distance between people, and how the process of attaining intimacy in early adulthood is a kind rite of passage that makes a Marine boot camp obstacle course look like a stairway to heaven.