This is why youths are committing suicide.

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Every 40 seconds, another human life is taken by suicide, according to World Health Organization data.

A new report reveals that young people between the ages of 15 and 19, who are struggling with mental illness and addiction, have the highest rates of suicide attempts. Middle-aged men are also at high risk, as are children and youth in First Nations communities who live with the legacy of trauma perpetuated by colonization and the residential school system.

When the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” premiered in 2017, it quickly became one of the most watched—and most controversial—shows aimed at teen viewers.

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With its third season expected to release in 2019, the series continues to spark debate over how the show portrays teen suicide and its possible effect on viewers.

Raising Awareness–and Risk?

The drama centers on a high school student who died by suicide and leaves behind 13 audiotapes for people she blames for her action.

Fans of the series say it increases much-needed awareness about teen suicide, currently the second leading cause of death for children and young people 10 to 24 years old. In addition to graphic portrayal of suicide, the show also focuses on bullying and cyberbullying, underage drinking, sexual assault, guns in the home, school violence, and other discussion-worthy topics.

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But some experts warn the show may do more harm than good. Although the series is fictional, teens can be impulsive and emotional. Watching a character decide to commit suicide might trigger them to do the same. After the show was released, medical and mental health professionals reported teens listing their own 13 reasons why they wanted to kill themselves. Some families said they believe the show triggered their children to actually take their lives.

Is Suicide “Contagious?”

Research suggests that exposure to a peer’s suicide can, in fact, have a “contagious” effect—especially among 12- to 13-year-olds. After reviewing more than 50 international studies, a group of major health and media organizations developed recommendations that advise against “presenting suicide as a tool for accomplishing certain ends, such as revenge or recognition,” or “glorifying suicide or persons who commit suicide.”

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Why are so many teenagers taking their own life? One factor is what I call “toxic socialization” — a process of physical or emotional childhood and adolescent abuse. Those who grow up in toxic environments are up to 12 times more likely to experience addiction, depression and to try to commit suicide.

Agents of socialization hit, scream, intimidate, threaten, shame and exclude because they feel that violence — such as spanking — turns out a better adult product.

But it doesn’t, at all. Toxic socialization — including corporal punishment, emotional abuse and the childhood trauma that is associated with it — contributes to negative behaviours. Children who are exposed to maltreatment, violence in the community or marital violence in families struggle with many forms of mental disability, including anxiety, alcohol dependence, eating disorders, personality disorders and depression.

Why does the violence of a toxic socialization process contribute to depression and suicide? That’s a complicated question to sort out, but it’s certainly linked to the neurobiological and endocrine damage  that results from chronic exposure to the stress of violent environments, especially during the critical early years of childhood and adolescence.

The impact is made worse when perpetrators are people who are supposed to protect and nurture, in environments that are supposed to feel safe and secure.

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