Suicide in People of Color
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Depression is a potentially life-threatening mood disorder whose complications often include suicide. The fatality level of depression is measurable by completed suicide, and approximately 10% of the population commits suicide each year with differences most distinct between gender and color, “Although depression is more often diagnosed in women, more men die from suicide by a factor of 4.5:1 than women. White men commit over 72% of all suicides” (Depression, 1999, 1). Therefore, by and large suicide is primarily a white phenomenon. However, among people of color adolescent suicides rates are rapidly increasing and rivaling the adolescent suicide rates in the general population, “In 1980, the suicide rate for young whites was 157 percent greater than it was for young blacks. Today, it’s 42 percent greater” and “Between 1979 and 1992, the rate of suicides among Native American males age 15-24 was nearly six times the U.S. average and the highest for any group based on age, sex or race” (Rate 1998, 1; Becker 1998, 1).Symptoms of depression commonly include heightened prolonged periods of sadness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, sleep or appetite disturbances, loss of energy or motivation, feelings of worthlessness and suicide ideation among others. However, when it comes to the reasons why people of color are experiencing high and rapidly increasing rates of suicide, clear distinctions are not evident. However, as with many
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bove that the opposite of this is one reason theorized for African American teen suicide, other peoples of color appear to commit suicide based on depressing conclusions about themselves. Many people of color are immigrants to American society and are subjected to hostility, ostracism, hatred and violence which at times causes them to internalize negative feelings of worth about themselves increasing depression levels. In Arizona, Asian immigrant population numbers are rising. Asian teens have also been experiencing an increase in suicide rates, but, unlike their black counterparts, these teens are suspected of falling into depression and then committing suicide based on feelings of low worth that they internalize from being the victims of racial hatred and abuse. The case of one 10th grader who recently shot himself to death validates this theory and fits into cognitive theories of depression and suicide like Beck’s. The story of Loi Nguyen has made many question the relationship between depression, racism, cultural barriers and language barriers. In September, more than 30 white and Latino teens surrounding Nguyen and five other Asians and taunted them with racial slurs before breaking into fistfights. Nguyen was suspende
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Approximate Word count = 1903
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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