In society, many problems are often ignored and stigmatized. These include suicide and mental health problems. These dilemmas have become more common in recent years; However, society as a whole still has a long way to go in understanding these complex events. For this reason, it is surprising to many that suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 (Pytash). In the popular young adult novel Thirteen Reasons Why, a young girl named Hannah Baker leaves behind thirteen audio cassettes before committing suicide, with each cassette addressed to a specific person and explaining how that person played a role in her death. The book focuses heavily on why she committed suicide, with some of the main reasons being bullying, harassment, and self-hatred. It also shows how people are affected by suicide, through the perspective of a boy named Clay Jensen, who had a crush on Hannah and received a tape. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher highlights many issues and walks the reader through the causes and effects of suicide. This illustrates how seemingly harmless situations can spiral out of control and result in a person's death. All of these issues are extremely relevant and common in today's society, but extremely underappreciated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The cause of suicide is often unclear and debatable. This is a tragic event that has left friends, family and the community in shock and disbelief. The definitive answer to the question "why" may never be resolved, however, there are many known, research-based factors that could lead a person to consider suicide. According to the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, the main contributing factors tend to be depression, conflict with parents, relationship problems and substance abuse (Sinyor). In the novel, Hannah Baker was stalked by a "voyeur" named Tyler Down. She suspected he was spying on her room and hatched an elaborate plan to catch him (Asher 59). This blatant invasion of privacy left Hannah feeling like her only refuge had been violated beyond her control. Tyler's evil actions sparked Hannah's pattern of feelings of objectification, which ultimately was a factor in her decision to commit suicide. It probably never occurred to him that his harassment would lead to his death. Although Hannah speaks out against harassment in the recordings, the airing of this story actually led to the humiliation and intimidation of Tyler and many others mentioned in the recordings. Whether this is justified or not depends on the reader and their moral compass. One of the main causes of suicide, both in real life and in the novel, is inaction. It is a very difficult phenomenon to monitor, but very deadly. Many people, such as friends, family members, teachers, and other adults, do not know how to recognize the signs that someone is at risk. Since it is often very difficult for a suicidal person to seek help, people in positions of authority must be alert to the warning signs. On the final tape, it is revealed that Hannah attempted to contact her guidance counselor and English teacher, Mr. Porter. She recorded audio of their entire conversation for inclusion in the tapes and said: "The only thing that standsbetween you and this collection of audio tapes is: Mr. Porter” (Asher 143). During their recorded conversation, Hannah was extremely vague. She frequently hinted that she was suicidal, but Mr. Porter paid no attention to this. He told her that moving away from the things that had hurt her in the past might be her best option, which wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted someone to give her viable advice on how to overcome pain. He let her leave the room when she showed troubling signs of self-loathing, which was a huge mistake (Asher 151). This simple conversation made Hannah feel like there was no way out of her struggles, and that no one cared. This was obviously far from the truth, but in his state of mind, it was accurate. This also happens frequently in the real world. In a study published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, it was found that when pre-service teachers read Thirteen Reasons Why, “they recognized how the adults in the story were unsupportive of the adolescent characters; this awareness provided a kind of trial-and-error experimentation as PSTs considered how they might respond in similar situations” (Potash). Learning from the mistakes made by the characters in Asher's novel is essential to saving the lives of struggling students in the future. Another major factor that often causes young people to consider suicide is mental illness, particularly depression. Depression does not always lead to suicide, but it increases the risk. According to the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, depression is the main risk factor among adolescents. In their study, 38 out of 74 youth suicide deaths were attributed to depression (Sinyor). These statistics are illustrated by the tragic case of Madison Holleran. Madison was a beautiful, intelligent 19-year-old Ivy League track star who committed suicide at the University of Pennsylvania in 2014. Although everything seemed to be going well in her life, she struggled with depression due to the pressure she placed on herself to be perfect. . In an ESPN feature article on her story, it was stated that: Madison was beautiful, talented, successful -- almost the epitome of what every young girl is supposed to hope to become. But she was also a perfectionist who struggled with poor results. She was a deep thinker, someone who was aware of the image she presented to the world, and someone who often struggled with what that image conveyed of her, with how people read superficially who she was, what her life was like (Fagan). The struggles Madison faced are similar to what Hannah felt. Many people thought that because she was beautiful and seemed to lead a good life, she had no problems. Although Madison sought help and began seeing a therapist, it wasn't enough. When Hannah contacted her guidance counselor, she still felt helpless. This despair and depression is a major cause of suicide. Suicide often leaves people in shock and disbelief and can have long-term effects on those left behind. There is often confusion as people wonder why things happened the way they did. We often wonder if anything could have been done to prevent this tragic event. For this reason, guilt is a very common effect of suicide. In the novel, the guilt felt by some people on the tapes after Hannah's death continued to haunt them. It is expected that this will greatly affect them in the future. Like Tony, theboy in charge of circulating the tapes, told Clay: “We are all responsible, at least a little” (Asher 124). Hannah intentionally put this guilt on them because she wanted them to feel responsible for her death and not make the same mistakes again. According to the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy's study of pre-service teachers and young adult novels, “...reasons for reading Thirteen Reasons Why...were based on previous life experiences; they were looking for answers. Of the 22 PSTs, 10 knew a friend or classmate who committed suicide; a student said a friend's father committed suicide. PSTs hoped that by reading, they would begin to understand why people they knew chose to commit suicide. Corinne said: “I wanted to understand his thoughts better.” Similarly, Shayla, whose high school classmate committed suicide, said, "I often wondered why and what made him commit suicide" (Pytash). Based on these statements alone, it is inferred that people who have known someone who committed suicide are extremely likely to feel guilty for the rest of their lives. They will wonder why the person did this and if they could have done anything to stop them. This can lead to other serious problems later. Traumatic events have the ability to change the way people think and act. Hannah Baker's suicide made some people rethink every interaction they had with her and be kinder to others. This is particularly evident in the case of Clay Jensen. He wanted to get to know Hannah, but the rumors circulating about her dissuaded him (Asher 15). After her suicide, he regrets not having contacted her. Soon after, he changed the way he interacted with people. When he notices his middle school crush in the hallway, instead of ignoring her like he usually does, he recognizes her. He says, “But Skye is walking down the same hallway where I saw Hannah walking away two weeks ago. That day, Hannah disappeared into a crowd of students, allowing the tapes to say goodbye to her. But I can still hear Skye Miller's footsteps, which seem fainter and fainter as she moves forward. And I start walking towards her. Two steps behind her, I say her name. (Asher 156). Clay would never have done this in the past, making it clear that Hannah's suicide changed him. He is now more empathetic towards the difficulties of others and can sense when someone needs a friend. These are all effects of the traumatic incident he endured through the tapes. Unlike Clay, some people who receive the tapes are not affected by them. They feel no guilt or remorse and make no major changes in their lives. This reaction is best illustrated by the character of Marcus Cooley. Marcus is included on the tapes because he tried to take advantage of Hannah on their first date (Asher 75). This caused Hannah to doubt her decision-making abilities and really accelerated her downward spiral. When he crosses paths with Clay at Tyler Down's house after listening to the tapes, he says he feels no grief over Hannah's death. In response to Clay asking him what he thinks, he responds: “Nothing. It's ridiculous, I don't belong on these tapes. Hannah just wanted an excuse to kill herself” (Asher 110). These harsh and unwarranted statements reveal that sometimes people feel no guilt. Perhaps this is a coping mechanism for people who, deep down, know they did something wrong. Anyway, some people are sounsympathetic that they will never see the error of their behavior. This perpetuates the vicious cycle of harassment. People can have opposite reactions to the same situation, which can lead to two completely different outcomes. There is one cause of teen suicide that stands out among the rest. It is above all the most avoidable. This cause is bullying. About 3.2 million children in grades 6 to 10 are bullied each year, and even more cases go unreported (Pytash). There are two types of harassment: direct and indirect. In the novel, Hannah Baker references how she was bullied by a group of boys when an inappropriate list including her name was circulated around the school. This is classified as direct harassment. It all started when Alex Standall created a list of hot or not guys and included his name on it (Asher 19). This led Hannah to jealousy, sexual harassment and bullying. As a result, her self-confidence and self-esteem gradually declined. This is a perfect example of how a “joke” can get out of hand. In a study by Toronto psychiatrists, it was found that bullying was the sole cause of suicide in 6.4% of their cases (Sinyor). While this percentage may seem small, it shows the profound impact that bullying can have on mental health. The next type of bullying is indirect bullying. This is often less obvious than direct bullying. For example, in Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah is often excluded and used for the benefit of others. This is difficult to recognize from the outside, but it has detrimental effects on the targeted person. After reading the novel, the pre-service teachers realized that "it's bullying when Courtney Crimson uses Hannah to take her to the party and then spreads rumors about her" (Pytash). Another example of indirect bullying is when Zach Dempsey stole Hannah's kind notes from him. Peer communication course box. On the tapes, she responded to this by saying, "That may not seem like a big deal to you, Zach, but now I hope you understand that I needed the hope that those notes might have." » (Asher 87). His actions made Hannah feel completely worthless and even more attacked. Just like in this situation, bullying is often an underhanded act, not necessarily a physical altercation that can have a profound effect on young people. especially if they already have other stressors in their life. Hannah faced many stressors besides bullying, which is very similar to what many teenagers face in real life. According to the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, “vulnerability to stress and stressors.” mix to create a “risk factor” in young people that makes them vulnerable to depression and suicidal ideation” (Breton). The added stress of harassment can certainly push people considered “at risk” over the edge. This is what happened to Hannah; she began to view herself as worthless only after others treated her that way. No matter how many people tried to support her, her thoughts always returned to those who didn't. Thirteen Reasons Why has certainly had a colossal effect on the way young people and adults view suicide. Being told a story from such a personal perspective definitely touched a lot of people. A review of the novel by Kristine Pytash certainly supports this assertion. Pytash, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kent, believes that talking about these sensitive topics through. 22 2015.