Category: article commentary

article commentary

Suicide Among Youth has Increased, Ruch et al Study Demonstrates

Al

13 Reasons Why has been on my radar since it came out on Netflix. When the book came out for YA, it really didn’t strike me as something to pay attention to because I compared my own history to it. While I struggled with issues such as self-injury and suicidal ideation during my adolescence, the books that I read that hit on these issues never really drove me towards wanting to commit the act itself. Rather, the stark words across the page gave me some comfort that maybe I wasn’t alone, or that what I was doing wasn’t uncommon.

Then the television adaptation occurred, shorter-term studies have been released, depression, anxiety and rates of suicide have increased among our teens and children and now we’ve decided that this show MUST be the apex of the problem.

Honestly? I get the concern. A is also struggling with SI, depression and anxiety, and I noticed that this popped up on her Netflix watch list, so I figured I might as well take a dive in and see what the fuss is about. I get that there were moments when I was younger that I might have used this as a visual confirmation of everything I was hoping – revenge, people understanding how they hurt me, the realization that THEY were the cause of my pain and eventual death – and so I empathize.

When Bridge et al released their study highlighting a correlation between the release of 13 Reasons Why and an increased incidence in suicide among 10 – 17 year olds, the information was presented by a lot of outlets in a manner that suggested causation, and the sensationalist headlines were shared and reshared across social media. In a few different groups that I am in (including some that are not related to parenting in any way), the articles made their way there and mothers and fathers poured out their fears that their child might be using the show as a guide.

We hear a lot about suicide in our youth, and for important reasons: Suicide is now the most common cause of death in teens. The average age of suicide is decreasing. The aforementioned increases in anxiety and depression. And now a study shows that we need to exercise caution regarding exposing children and adolescents to the series.

Interestingly, the Bridge study showed that the suicide rate increased much more in boys than girls, however the suicide rate among ages 10 – 19 has been higher in boys than girls historically. A cross-sectional study of suicide in the US from 1975 through 2016 wanted to explore the disproportionate increase in suicide rates among female youth found that even though male rates of suicide are still higher, female rates are increasing at a rapid pace, especially in younger individuals.

For me, this highlights the importance of speaking with our young men and boys regarding mental health, and ensuring that we aren’t just looking at our girls when we discuss these types of issues. There’s long been a conversation about toxic masculinity and how these leads to silence among men regarding mental health, and how that silence is passed down generationally by examples of those men that boys look up to.

I’m not here to rehash that, but rather to say that I am guilty of this, too. I paid attention to 13 Reasons Why because of a girl in my life, and not because of the children in my life. This is merely to serve as a reminder that it’s crucial that we ensure that we are protecting all of our children because it’s worrisome that suicide is killing our children more often than anything else. It’s a tragedy and we need to do better in ensuring they are aware of the fact that help exists and that they can ask us for it anytime.

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Vox Article – “Incels”

Al

Incels are fascinating for many researchers, for a variety of reasons. Sociology, psychology, anthropology – all fields that are attempting to learn as much as we can about the people who commit atrocious acts of violence because of this label they’ve applied to themselves. The Vox article does a good job of sifting through the mass amount of trolling that people tend to do when they know no one is looking and points out the thought patterns and possible reasons why this community has members that can be incited towards violence and assault. The community is very closed in, for reasons that become apparent very quickly, and it takes quite a lot of work to learn anything in-depth.

For me, the most stunning revelation was the original roots of the community. It didn’t come on my radar for a long time, and at that point it was folded in with MRA’s and MGTOW’s that I was researching. The original incel board was begun by a woman – liberal and queer, who no longer identifies as involuntarily celibate. Alana originated the first forum in the late 90’s and stepped back in the early 2000’s. She now works for social justice causes and has begun a website called “Love, not anger” aimed at helping people move beyond the label and life of being involuntarily celibate.

While I think that many persons who are members of the community might take issue with some of the assumptions made and information laid out in the article, I have to give credit to the author who seemed to present an empathetic view of those who would be drawn to these spaces in the first place. While I can empathize with the awkwardness, rejection, and isolation, I cannot empathize with the extremes that it’s gone to for many of these men (and women) because I don’t have the experiences they do. That is, I’ve never struggled in the area of seeking companionship or being intimate with a partner.

In my personal research, I’ve not been able to really answer any questions, but find myself having more and more of them. From a psychology POV, I think it’s fascinating to see how the echo chamber works. As social creatures, we will always seek out groups of peers that have similar issues as we do. I think that it’s worthwhile for those who feel socially inept or frustrated and confused by dating to have a place to talk about it freely, but at what point do we determine if the extremes are problematic? And are the problematic for society are large or simply for a small group of persons? When we remove the filter of real life against the backdrop of anonymity that the web and dark web provide, bravado becomes more extreme. The question that I would really like to have answered is at what point is the bravado a red flag of violence, and I know that there’s really no way to answer that with clinical certainty.


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Article: “Therapy wars: The Revenge of Freud”

Al

This article is a couple of years old, but I find myself returning to it every once in a while as I move from undergrad into grad school and am beginning to navigate what it means to be a therapist in today’s world. The title is somewhat misleading as it’s not giving any credence to the majority of Freud’s theories (most of which have been debunked although without his work, many believe psychotherapy today would not exist).

I’m honestly very happy to be coming up during this time when holistic approaches to psychology/psychotherapy are becoming the method being instructed and embraced – there are benefits to having multiple tools to use for multiple issues. CBT is really rad for short-term, adjustment mental health crises and crisis management, but long-term, life-long pervasive personality disorders do benefit from long-term therapy (albeit frequency wears down when the client isn’t in active crisis or feels good about handling their symptoms).

No one is the same, no course of depression/anxiety/etc is the same, therefore not all treatments will be the best every single time. And it’s a shame that insurance companies keep trying to box in mental health with limited visits and coverage only for one type of therapy because so many people will go, get through their initial crisis, then not have any time to develop skills needed for next time. They are left feeling abandoned and that therapy didn’t work for them, and research shows that this cyclical process is what leads to increases in harmful coping strategies (alcohol/drug/self abuse, other risky behaviors) and increased suicide attempts/risks.

TL;DR: Freud was still wrong about SOOOOO many things, but there’s benefits for long-term therapy that CBT simply doesn’t offer.