In Mexican Whiteboy Danny Lopez seems like an average teenager. He is quiet and keeps to himself. He loves baseball and wants to make his father proud. Then his father leaves unexpectedly and leaves Danny wondering what he did wrong. In many parts of the book he digs his fingernails into his arm, "Behind his back he grips his left wrist, digs his fingernails into the skin until a sharp pain floods his mind, makes him feel real" (Pena). Danny does this many times when he is anxious or worried. Slowly this became a comforting mechanism like it is for so many other teens. Depression and anxiety is increasing in youth. This graph shows how many hospital admissions for self harm there has been in certain years. We can see that this is a rising issue, but we are left with the question of how we can help? Speaking from experience if you yourself are suffering from self harm, you have to talk to someone. If you aren't suffering from it but knows someone who is getting them help would be first priority, but also be there and listen to them.
Pena, Matt De la. Mexican whiteboy. New York: Ember, 2011. Print.
https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/mental-health/compulsive-self-mutilation/
It really leaves you to wonder what the reason for self harm has gone up in the years. Why do more teens seem to be more depressed and anxiousness in the more recent years? I think that doctors should study that so we can decrease the teenage suicide rates.
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