A recent 2016 study of suicide risk from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention shows a 24% increase in suicides in the United States
over the 15-year period between 1999 and 2014,
including a tripling of the suicide rate for females 10-14, this in a culture
that posits that all family structures are the same. Research on the children
of divorce provides overwhelming evidence to disprove the myth that divorce
does not harm children. In fact, the divorce epidemic has contributed to
the serious and growing psychopathology in American youth. One example is the
2010 study
of American adolescent psychopathology published in 2010: 49 percent of the
10,000 teenagers studied met the criteria for one psychiatric disorder and 40
percent met the criteria for two disorders.
Research by Penn State sociologist Paul Amato (2005) on the long-term damage to children
from divorce demonstrated that, if the United States enjoyed the same level
of family stability as it did in 1960, the nation would have 70,000 fewer
suicide attempts in youth every year, about 600,000 fewer kids receiving
therapy and 500,000 fewer acts of teenage delinquency.
A 2011
study demonstrated the suicide risk in those whose parents divorced before
they were 18. Of the 695 participants that had experienced parental
divorce before the age of eighteen, men from divorced families had more than
three times the increased risk of suicidal ideation in comparison to men whose
parents had not divorced. Adult daughters of divorce had an 83 percent higher
risk of suicidal ideation than their female peers who had not experienced
parental divorce.
Adults are
also vulnerable to suicidal thinking and acts after divorce. A 2010 study
from Rutgers of suicide among middle-aged Americans found divorce rates has doubled
for middle-aged and older adults since the 1990s, leading to social isolation.
In 2005 unmarried middle-aged men were 3.5 times more likely than married men
to die from suicide, and their female counterparts were as much as 2.8 times
more likely to kill themselves. The divorce rate has doubled for middle-aged
and older adults since the 1990s.
The million
youth per year traumatized by the divorce “plague” deserve attention, as do
those adults who have been its losses. Many factors have contributed to
the depression and marked rise of suicide in youth and adults in our culture:
·
the profound loneliness and hopelessness that can develop when a
youth does not experience the love of a father and a mother and their love for
each other and
·
when an adult lacks spousal love;
·
the epidemic of selfishness/narcissism leading young females and
adults to be treated as sexual objects and not as persons;
·
being born into and living in unstable cohabiting unions;
·
the retreat from marriage;
·
a materialistic mentality;
·
the severe epidemic of substance abuse disorders, particularly
heroin;
·
the absence of the Faith which can provide comfort and hope
during difficulty emotional and financial crises.
Many young females
no longer believe in romance and dreams of a faithful, loving husband and
home with the little children who will be born. In view of this sad
reality, a young girl could be tempted to think about why one should live if
there is nothing to dream of, idealize and look forward to. (To be continued…)
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