Suicide claims a life approximately every forty seconds worldwide. Australia's youth are not exempt, and are in fact particularly susceptible, with over 2000 adolescents successfully suiciding each year and more than 60 000 attempting it (Joiner 2005). This paper will attempt to discover why. What propels some young people into suicidal behaviour, and how are they resisting nature's strongest instincts of self-preservation? As well as attempting to answer these questions, indicators of suicidal behaviour will be investigated along with possible future preventatives that carers can use to counter self-destructive behaviour in students.
The most basic of human instincts is self-preservation. It is ironic then, that suicide has often been seen as a weak, easy way out. Voltaire once said "It seems rather absurd that Cato slew himself through weakness. None but a strong man can surmount the most powerful instinct of nature." (Joiner 2005) Voltaire recognised that to commit suicide is an......
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Approximate Pages: 12 (260 words per double-spaced page) |