Question

Social hostility can have severe lasting effects of interperpersonal relationship during our adolescence years, which if not deal with in a positive way can become a fueling agent for suicidal teens.

Answer 1

SOCIAL HOSTILITY:

Social hostility is a emotional state of withdrawal or avoidance from social situations. The people who are socially hostile have problems in interpersonal relationships as they are often unfriendly, aggressive, avoidant, and they are more likely to stay by themselves and does not seek the company of others.

These characteristics are commonly found among adolescents, because during the teenage these individuals are actively involved in the process of exploring themselves, and the world around them. They are more into peer relationships, such as hanging out with friends and sharing their feelings with them because they believe that they are more understood by the same age fellows. This makes them to spend less time with their family members, and the parents also feel that their child is being hostile or avoiding others.

During this stage, the teen agers are identifying themselves as a seperate 'individual' as they have grown from a child to an adolescent. They are also constantly seeking answers for the questions like, 'Who am I ?', 'What do I become ?', 'How do I live my life?', etc. As adolescents, they have high potentials, abilities, skills and talents that could be utilized in effective ways such as in their academics and extra curricular activities. When these capabilities are channeled in appropriate ways it would fuel their self efficacy and they might also get motivated to achieve their goals and succeed in life.

But, this hostility during the adolescent period might be a potential risk factor, because these teenagers might not express their emotions to anyone. If the negative emotions such as sadness, anger, vengeance and guilt are accumulated within oneself, it makes a person depressed and they might engage in self harming behaviors or even attempt suicide to end their emotional pain.

Social isolation is one of the risk factors that contribute to suicide in adolescents as they do not share their true feelings with their parents or even to friends. So, the parents must look in to their children and be aware of what they are going through and the teenagers must also feel free to share their feelings with their parents, who would provide them with moral support and help them to come out of their sufferings.