Suicide is a major issue in the United States, with over 1,000 people attempting suicide every day. Teen suicide rates have also been increasing in recent years. In Hamlet, the protagonist contemplates suicide due to the troubles in his life, capturing how many people feel hopeless and see suicide as the only way to end their suffering. While suicide cannot always be prevented, seeking help through hotlines, counseling, medication, and social support can help address the underlying mental health conditions that often contribute to suicidal thoughts and drastically reduce suicide rates.

1. Suicide
By Duncan Boisineau, Mike
Ball, and Anders Davis

2. Hamlet
► “To be or not to be--that is the question:
Weather „tis nobler in the mind to suffer the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or
to take arms against a sea of troubles and
by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--to
sleep perchance to dream.”

3. How it relates
► Hamlet states the question is it better to live
or die? Should I kill myself or not? And is
there an afterlife for me to go to if I do kill
myself? Hamlet, just like 1 in 6 teens, feels
this way and seriously contemplates killing
himself due to the situation he is put in.

4. Hamlet
► Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and
now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my
gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I
have kissed I know not how oft.

5. How it relates
► Here Hamlet learns the true meaning of life and
how final death really is. Most teenagers realize
this like Hamlet does but they follow trough with it
any ways because the feel as if there is no other
option.

6. Hamlet
►"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance.
Pray you, love, remember. And there is
pansies, that's for thoughts," said Ophelia to
her brother Laertes. "There's fennel for
you, and columbines. There's rue for
you, and here's some for me; we may call it
herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear
your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I
would give you some violets, but they
withered all when my father died."

7. How it relates
► Ophelia expresses how depressed she feels
about the death of her father and how she
has given up on life i.e. shes all out of
violets because the all withered when her
father died, and this is how a good amount
of people feel when someone they love is
killed, which in some cases leads to suicide.

9. Suicide in the U.S.
► Every 13.7 minutes someone in the United States
dies by suicide.
Nearly 1,000,000 people make a suicide attempt
every year.
90% of people who die by suicide have a
diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorder at
the time of their death.
Most people with mental illness do not die
by suicide.

10. ► The rate of suicide has been increasing
since 2000. This is the highest rate of
suicide in 15 years.
► Men are nearly 4 times more likely to die by
suicide than women. Women attempt
suicide 3 times as often as men.
► Suicide rates are highest for people
between the ages of 40 and 59.

11. Teen suicide
► Nearly1 in 6 high school students has
seriously considered suicide, and 1 in 12
has attempted it, according to the semi-
annual survey on youth risk behavior and
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

12. ► More female teens than males have
attempted/considered suicide, students
struggled with suicide more during the first
two years of high school - roughly ages 14
to 16 make up around 20%.
► The suicide rate among teens has climbed
in the past few years, from 6.3% in 2009 to
7.8% in 2011, due to bullying

13. How it relates
► In the U.S. it is apparent that Normal people don‟t seek to
kill themselves. Suicide happens when someone‟s suffers
through an event so horrible they believe there is no hope.
Suicide is seen as a way to end the suffering (slings and
arrows of life). Suicide is not in itself a mental illness, but
rather a consequence of several mental
disorders, especially major depression.

14. ► Suicidal tendencies are often a common
occurrence for a number of reasons. Mainly
it is due to an overwhelming sense that the
person feels like an outcast or that no one
would care if they died, and even more
don‟t necissarily want to die but it is the
only way they feel will end the pain that
they are feeling

15. Solutions
There are a variety of ways to prevent a loved
one from committing suicide, and by using these
solutions most suicides can be prevented instead
of leading to another lost life. Suicide can be
prevented as long as the person considering
suicide is willing to try and save themselves as
well… some people just cant cope like Ophelia
and will succumb to suicide but for those like
Hamlet it is possible to prevent suicide

16. ► Some solutions are…
► Suicide prevention hotlines
► Counseling
► Talking it over with loved ones
► Taking anti-depression medication
► Making changes to how you live your life
► Staying away from drugs and alcohal which
feed depression

19. ► Finallythere is no magic “cure all” when it
comes to suicide. To end ones suicidal
thoughts it takes enormous amounts of hard
work, support from everyone around you
and especially the will to pull through.
Suicide will always be a problem, but with
these solutions it will be exponentially
smaller

20. THE END