The Academic Argument

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in teenagers and young adults aged fifteen to twenty-four, taking almost 900,000 lives in 2014 (Labbe). Suicide is extremely prevalent in teenagers, and is a world problem that has sat in a dark corner undiscussed for past decades and should be brought to the world’s attention in a more direct fashion. To fully understand the depth and complexity of the problem, the entire realm of depression and suicide would need to first be established so that it can be discussed in its entirety. Important aspects to look at would include what defines “depression,” what is the difference between suicide ideation and suicidal actions, and whether each imposes a hefty risk on personal well-being, and finally, what causes the level of depression that leads to suicidal thoughts and actions in adolescence.

Depression is defined as “a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often is unable to live in a normal way” (Merriam-Webster). Depression is extremely prevalent in youth, as the developing brain is riddled with all sorts of hormones due to puberty and what teens would deem “life problems,” also known as school-related stress and relationship issues. This combination of hormones and teenage stress can lead to depression, and in some cases, leading to suicidal thoughts and actions.

This pattern saw a dramatic increase in the early 1900’s, when there were several high school and college aged teenagers who were depressed and ended up committing suicide. There was such a large increase in “student suicide” that schools and professors/educators were being blamed, in true witch-hunt fashion, for subliminally suggesting that students kill themselves much like the characters in books they would read did. This attack on schools came to a culminating point when an international summit of the world’s top psychoanalysts came together to discuss this increase in student suicide. In an attempt to free the educators of blame, one of the leaders of the summit, Alfred Adler stated that “…the life-denying children… who kill themselves constitute a secondary category of deviation from normality” (34). Thus, for the “first time” on a world scale, it was deemed that depressed kids who commit suicide were not normal, a finding that has solved several of the world’s problems today…

Fast forward a century and then some, to arrive a decade into the 2000’s, where a worrisome trend has started that effects almost every teenager at some point of their life. A sort of “pseudo-depression” that kicks in around the pubescent years in which kids believe they are clinically depressed and tend to have suicidal thoughts. The reason for this “phase” in the life of a teenager can best be described due to the fact that teenagers are “…distinguished by higher levels of impulsivity…” (Miranda 15). This impulsivity is something that is found in the still-maturing brains of teenagers and is a function of the brain that usually is removed later on into adulthood. However, this pseudo-depressive phase that every kid goes through really makes it hard to separate those who are actually depressed from those who are just going through pubescent mood swings. Nonetheless, a lot of nu metal bands make music about depression, leading to suicidal thoughts and actions, and is often directed towards their teenaged audience. A great example of this is in Seether’s latest album Isolate and Medicate in which the lyrics to the song “Nobody Praying for Me” say “’Cause if I stand up, I’ll break my bones and everybody loves to see a fall unfold, Ain’t nobody giving up, ‘cause nobody gives a fuck” (Morgan, Shaun). The line really strikes that feeling we all get when it seems like we got dealt a series of shitty hands and it looks like nobody gives any fucks. A nu metal band that seems to heavily focus on the idea of depression leading to suicidal thoughts and actions is Mudvayne. Another great example is in their song “IMN” where the opening line states “Suicide, don’t give a fuck about this, my life or any other. Just go away and let me hang” (Gray). Solely from the lines, the idea of depression leading to suicidal thoughts is prevalent, and with the last line, the ideas turn into actions.

The link between depression leading to suicidal thoughts and actions has been heavily studied. However, with the pseudo-depressive phase that teens go through, it is hard to determine if some suicidal thoughts in adolescents have any weight to them. The article written by Miranda points to this saying that to weigh the importance of suicidal thoughts, one would have to look at how the developing brain would respond to daily stress. The response to stress helps to determine if the brain is functioning correctly, meaning that if the stress is handled poorly, then the brain is not functioning correctly and the suicidal ideation should be investigated rather than blown off (16).

However, she says that a suicide attempt is almost always a threat to someone’s well-being, and states that there is always a link between the two, as through the progression from depression to suicide attempt, be it successful or not, always includes suicidal thoughts as a sort of middle man (15-17). This link pointed out and highlighted in Auerbach’s paper when he states “...depression is among the strongest predictors of suicidal ideation… and critically, only a third of adolescent ideators make an attempt” (127) and that of the third who made an attempt, all had previous suicidal ideation (127-128). The idea of a suicidal thought being worked into action is pretty straightforward, as how could one commit an action before thinking it? A perfect example of this straight progression is in Mudvayne’s song “IMN” where he progresses from the ideation earlier in the song to actions when he says “I want to eat a bullet, carve myself, beat my face… Don’t give a fuck, I’m out, I’m done, fuck this shit, you’ve dug the hole I’m lying in” (Gray). The narrator of the song contemplates several ways he could die, then ends up acting upon one of them and blaming another person for his suicide, saying it was their fault that he is laying in his grave. Another song that points out the progression from depression to suicide attempt is Mudvayne’s “Happy?” but unlike “IMN,” the reason for the narrator’s depression is more clearly defined, which gives a better aspect on what events can cause adolescents to initiate this progression, in this case, a failed relationship.

In the song “Happy?” Gray screams about the end of the relationship sending the narrator into a deep depression, so much that he contemplates suicide, saying “Tear meat from the bone, tear me from myself…” and then asking “Does it make you happy now?” followed by him ending his life at the end of the song. Relationships are one of the big causes of adolescent depression leading into suicidal thoughts, but the one reason that is most discussed and in the media is depression brought about by bullying, be it traditional or cyberbullying. In a study, it was shown that “…the prevalence of traditional bullying victimization [leading to suicide attempts in] adolescents to be about 36%, while in contrast the estimated prevalence of cyberbullying victimization was about 15%” (Reed 128). While the numbers themselves may seem low, to think about the fact that of all suicide attempts in adolescents, over half of them were because of some form of bullying is astonishing. So many suicide attempts, and when thinking of the progression, the preceding step of depression, could have been avoided and never occurred were it not for bullying.

Another major tragedy that causes thousands of suicide attempts each year that could be avoided is domestic abuse. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from parents and other relatives account for the other of the top three causes of depression and the subsequent suicide ideation and actions. Chad Gray, singer of Mudvayne, takes part in a side project, known as Hellyeah, and discusses the topic of domestic abuse causing the progression. This is particularly prevalent in their song “Hush” when Gray sings “Whipped so bad I pissed myself… if this reminds you of home, you better know you’re not alone, hold the gun up to my head, I’ll pull the trigger on myself!” Recognizing the horrible problem of abuse on adolescents, and its effects, Gray reaches out to domestic abuse victims saying he knows how it feels to be abused, as he was in his childhood, but just to push through and that it will get better, in hopes of inspiring kids not to have suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide.

Looking at “IMN” and “Happy?” the two strongest voiced songs on Mudvayne’s album Lost and Found, it is pretty clear that Chad Gray and Mudvayne do not take depression, nor suicidal thoughts and actions lightly. Through describing his own experiences and constant battles with depression, the group put out several songs that add a new light to the complex discussion of adolescent depression and suicide. Music is one of the greatest and most popular ways to voice opinion and experience, as well as advice. If only those 900,000 kids who took their own life in 2014 had heard Mudvayne’s message and knew that they were not alone, and knew that things would get better, maybe they would still be alive today, no longer lost in the darkness of their depression, but found in the light of a new, more joyful life.

Work Cited

Adler, Alfred, and Paul Friedman. On Suicide, with Particular Reference to Suicide among Young Students. New York: International Universities, 1967. Print.

“Depression.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 29 November 2015.

Gray, Chad. Blood for Blood. By Chad Gray, Greg Tribbett, Tom Maxwell, and Vinnie Paul.            HELLYEAH. Rec. 10 June 2014. Kevin Churko, 2014. CD.

Gray, Chad. L.D. 50. By Chad Gray, Greg Tribbett, Ryan Martinie, and Matthew McDonough. Mudvayne. Rec. 22 Aug. 2000. GGGarth, 2000. CD.

Labbe, Colleen. "Many Teens Considering Suicide Do Not Receive Specialized Mental Health Care." NIMH. NIH, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.

Miranda, Regina, and David Shaffer. "Understanding the Suicidal Moment in Adolescence." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1304.1 (2013): 14-21. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web.

Morgan, Shaun. Isolate and Medicate. By Shaun Morgan, Dale Stewart and John Humphrey. Seether. Rec. 1 July 2014. Brendan O'Brien, 2014. CD.

Randy P. Auerbach, Alexander J. Millner, Jeremy G. Stewart, Erika C. Esposito. “Identifying Differences between Depressed Adolescent Suicide Ideators and Attempters.” Journal of Affective Disorders 186. (2015): 127-133. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web.  

Reed K, Nugent W, Cooper R. “Testing a Path Model of Relationships Between Gender, Age, and Bullying Victimization and Violent Behavior, Substance Abuse, Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts in Adolescents.” Children and Youth Services Review 55 (2015): 128-137. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web.