CNN: Push to achieve tied to suicide in Asian-American women

[Arctic16]

<p>Wow you have to have some major problems to want to kill yourself for not being valedictorian.</p>

[TooRichForAid]

<p>I don’t think this is particularly an Asian problem. My ex-boss had a daughter committed suicide at 18, she is not Asian, white from Texas. Kids in this age range 17-24 are very vulnerable.</p>

[corranged]

<p>TRFA, the statistics show that the suicide rate for Asian women in the specified age group is higher than the suicide rate for any other race or ethnic group.</p>

[TutuTaxi]

<p>LakeWashington and Xanatos thanks for the background info and Wikipedia link. I guess in 2005 when I joined CC the thread was regarding the lawsuit……since the incident occurred in 2000.</p>

[Angry_Dad]

<p>

TRFA, the statistics show that the suicide rate for Asian women in the specified age group is higher than the suicide rate for any other race or ethnic group.

</p>

<p>Hey, corranged, do you have a link for that? The CNN article didn’t seem to list actual suicide rates.</p>

<p>The only thing I could find [url=<a href=“http://www.postsecondary.org/archives/previous/132603SUICIDE2.pdf]here[/url”>http://www.postsecondary.org/archives/previous/132603SUICIDE2.pdf]here[/url</a>] was the “suicide rates by gender and race/ethnicity for ages 15 to 24, 2000.”</p>

<p>According to the link, Asian women in that age group had 3.1 suicides per 100,000 population, same as White (non-hispanic) women, higher than Black and Hispanic women (2.2), and lower than American Indian women (6.2).</p>

<p>From the CNN article:</p>

<p>

Family pressure often affects girls more than boys, according to Dr. Dung Ngo, a psychologist at Baylor University in Texas. “When I go talk to high school students and ask them if they experience pressure, the majority who raised their hands were the girls,” he said.</p>

<p>Asian-American parents, he says, are stricter with girls than with boys. “The cultural expectations are that Asian women don’t have that kind of freedom to hang out, to go out with friends, to do the kinds of things most teenagers growing up want to do.”

</p>

<p>But according to the link above, men commit suicide several times more frequently across races and age groups. (For example, 10.5 per 100,000 among Asian men 15-24, vs. 3.1 for Asian women of that age.) </p>

<p>Am I just not looking at good data?</p>

[TooRichForAid]

<p>It has always been my understanding it’s teenage boys that are vulnerable not teenage girls.</p>

<p><a href=“Youth suicide - Wikipedia”>Youth suicide - Wikipedia;

<p>

In the U.S., male adolescent(s) commit suicide at a rate five times greater than that of female adolescents, although suicide attempts by females are three times as frequent as those by males. A possible reason for this is the method of attempted suicide for males is typically that of firearm use, with a 78-90% chance of fatality. Females are more likely to try a different method, such as ingesting poison [2]. Females have more parasuicides (cries for help).</p>

<p>Suicide rates vary for different ethnicities due to cultural differences. In 1998, white Americans accounted for 84% of all youth suicides, 61% male, 23% female. However, the suicide rate for Native Americans was 19.3 per 100,000, much higher than the overall rate (8.5 per 100,000). The suicide rate for African-Americans has increased more than two-fold since 1981. A national survey of high school students conducted in 1999 reported that Hispanic students are twice as likely to report an attempted suicide as white students [2].</p>

<p>A controversial U.S. government study, titled Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide, found that homosexual youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. Several researchers suggest that bisexual and youth uncertain of their sexual orientation may be at higher risk for suicidal behavior than self-proclaimed homosexual teenagers. Many homosexual teenagers who commit suicide may also suffer from mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders, making the connection more complicated. Institutionalized and internalized homophobia[citation needed] may also lead LGBT youth to think that their parents will throw them out and perhaps abuse them for being homosexual. It is impossible to know the suicide rate of homosexual youth because homosexuality is often hidden, particularly in this age group. Further research is currently being done to explain the prevalence of suicide among homosexual youths [4][5][6].</p>

<p>In 2004, 1,985 adolescents under the age of 20 committed suicide, an increase of 18% from the previous year.[7]</p>

<p>

</p>

[marite]

<p>This is an interesting issue.</p>

<p>The classic study by Durkheim suggested that suicide is highest among the elderly, and among elderly men. In the 1970s, a study suggested that in traditional China, suicide was highest among young women. The explanation was that young women were under pressure by their parents to marry against their personal wishes. There were two possible escapes: joining a nunnery or commiting suicide. It seems now that women who fall into the same age group remain vulnerable, but this time, over education.</p>

[corranged]

<p>Angry Dad, </p>

<p>Welcome to CC. I hope you’re not angry solely because of this post. I’m not saying that the CNN article is accurate, nor am I saying that Asian parents put too much pressure on young girls and drive them to suicide. I was just sharing the article because the regular posters will have seen many Asian children asking for help dealing with their parents in these matters, and I thought it would be a nice reminder–across racial boundaries–about the dangers of parents who push their children toward perfection or a certain ideal. My reference to suicide rates was from the statement in the CNN article (the first sentence I quoted).</p>

[Angry_Dad]

<p>

I thought it would be a nice reminder

</p>

<p>Yeah, it was. I can’t stop thinking about it, and the kids are sick of getting unexplained hugs.</p>

<p>Thanks for the welcome. I’ve been lurking for a while.</p>

[bethievt]

<p>Yeah, the girl I knew who commited suicide was not Asian. It crosses all boundaries. And I worry too much about my kid, though I try to come on here and obsess and leave him out of it, not put pressure. But maybe I do; hope not! Angry Dad, welcome.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I seem to remember that more women make suicide attempts, but men are more apt to be successful. (Partly because the former tend to use pills the latter guns.) But I can’t remember if that was for older people or included teens and young adults.</p>

[Angry_Dad]

<p>Looks like it did include teens and young adults, mathmom:</p>

<p>[Suicide</a> attempts among U.S. adolescents, 1991—2001](<a href=“http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/54/4/454/F1]Suicide”>http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/54/4/454/F1)</p>

[corranged]

<p>Mathmom, I actually read that last night in my de Beouvoir reading (though there are of course more recent statistics).</p>