Dubai: Teenagers are increasingly coming under stress due to academic and demanding social pressures, a psychologist said.

Being a teenager is stressful and while surviving this phase is a rite of passage most succeed in overcoming, there are many who don’t make it and take the extreme step of suicide, a disturbing trend coming under the spotlight after a schoolgirl died last month.

While suicide was the third leading cause of deaths in the 10-19 age group worldwide in 2014, no figures are available for the UAE. However, there have been around 10 teen suicides reported by Gulf News in the last three years.

In March 2014, a 16-year-old Indian student was found hanging in his apartment after failing an exam in Sharjah. In January the same year, a 14-year-old boy jumped from the balcony of his apartment on the 13th floor in Sharjah after being scolded by his father for smoking. Last month, a 15-year-old Indian girl died after falling from a residential building. The girl fell from the a 14th-floor balcony shortly after she returned home from school.

Dr Saliha Afridi, clinical psychologist and managing director of Lighthouse Arabia, said: “Academics, sports, and even social life are far more demanding then they used to be. Other stressors such as lack of real social and familial connections, overuse of electronics, poor diets, and little time for reflection only add to the stressful lives and schedules of children and adolescents these days,” she said.

Parents wanting their children to succeed and overachieve can also unknowingly be adding to their children’s stressors who strive to meet their parents’ expectations. Afridi said parents feel anxious and overwhelmed about whether their kids can succeed in this highly competitive world.

“So, yes, parents may be pushy and demanding but they are not trying to be difficult or hurtful, they are only trying to protect their children — and they feel that by pushing them to taken higher level classes or multiple sports or extra curricular activities they are providing them with an advantage to get into the best schools and get the best jobs.”

Afridi said parents should be careful when approaching teenagers in this critical phase of their lives and said some of the signs to look out for include withdrawal, agitation, change in appetite, change in sleep patterns and falling behind in school, to name a few.

Ahmad Samara, a 17-year-old Palestinian, said the biggest cause of stress in his life right now is getting good grades to ensure that he gets into university. “When you are in grade 11 and 12, getting good grades becomes more vital than ever because those are the grades counted for university. I think that as long as you have a good support system, any teenager can cope with any stressors,” he said.

Samara said bullying or family problems can be a cause for teen suicides because they can fuel teenagers’ negative thoughts and push them to the edge. According to studies by Yale University, bullying victims are between two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than others and another study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying

Jordanian Tasneem Al Amin said if parents expect too much and push teenagers over their limit, it can have a negative effect on students.

“There should be a balance, they should push them to work hard but in the same time understand their limits,” she said.