Pornography - book stats

8.  Nearly 90% of adults admit to masturbating on a regular basis.
9.  It is estimated that 6 out of every 10 Christian Men engage in some form of Pornography on a regular basis.

WHY IS THE CHURCH SILENT?
Sexual Sin is a growing epidemic that is single-handedly destroying millions of families.  
Innocent wives, husbands, sons, daughters, friends and co-workers are falling victim to this horrid plague.  
And Pornography, while certainly not new to humanities temptations, has in recent years,  progressed into a more ugly storm leaving behind in its path a 100% Mortality Rate.  
And while society is being obliterated by this vicious killer, the Church, for the most part is virtually silent.  
WHY?
The truth, as painful as it may be, IS BECAUSE THE CHURCH IS CAUGHT UP IN THE CENTER OF THE STORM.
That's right, Christian men, women and teenagers are finding themselves ensnared too.... by this deadly sin.

Journey to the underworld

Pornography images are designed to appeal to our human tendencies toward lust and "sexual idolatry."  Let's examine these tendencies more closely:

Lust:  Webster's Dictionary defines lust as "intense or unbridled sexual desire," "an intense longing: craving" and a "conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment."   The problem with lust is that it is based in selfishness and works contrary to love.  In fact, it is the opposite of love (see HYPERLINK "http://porn-free.org/lust_love.htm" lust vs. love).  When fed, it can grow into an uncontrollable force in a person's life.  Like a wildfire, lust can consume a person's resources, time and attention.

The Bible identifies 2 basic types of lust that people are tempted by: "lust of the eyes" and "lust of the flesh" ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1JOHN+2:15-17&language=english&version=NKJV&showfn=on" 1 John 2:15-17).   Pornography caters to both types by providing visual stimulation that appeals to our "fleshly" desire for sex ( HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/lust.htm" more about lust).  It also gives us lifelong fuel for lust through the memories of the sexual images.  With the help of special hormones released in the brain during sexual arousal, porn images are retained in our memories much longer than non-sexual memories.

Sexual Idolatry:  Idolatry is the "worship of a physical object as a god" or an "immoderate attachment or devotion to something."  Worship means to show "extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem"  (both from Webster's Dictionary).  Many people may not realize that pornography has helped them develop an immoderate or extravagant  devotion to sex.   Gazing at pornography for hours, masturbating to sexual images and repeatedly fantasizing about sex are basically forms of worshipping sex.   People who practice such activities find that sexual images seem to rise to the top and forefront of their thoughts.

Many of the above effects reflect the fact that there is a spiritual aspect of pornography and sex addiction.  Jesus gave us a clue about this in Matthew 6:22-23 NIV:  "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   Porn is a form of darkness that follows the rule Jesus described.  When people view pornography, they open a "doorway" in their lives through their eyes to darkness.   The resultant effects of that darkness can be seen in our list above.

Masturbation

"Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?"   Proverbs 6:27

Is it wrong?  I do not intend to bring condemnation on anyone for masturbating.  This page is written to the person who desires to follow God and please God.  If you are not interested in following God, then the points presented on this page will not make sense to you ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+Corinthians+2%3A6-16&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" 1 Corinthians 2:6-16).  Each person must investigate the scriptures and draw their own conclusions.

Author's Testimonial:  If you are struggling with masturbation, I want you to know that I can relate to what you are going through.  I struggled with masturbation daily from my early teens through age thirty. I fantasized about sex with women  in porn, at school, work and church.  I knew that sex outside of marriage was wrong in God's eyes, but accepted a lustful " thought life" as the alternative.   Masturbation was a habit for me and I viewed it as a healthy release of sexual energy.  I thought it was harmless to do since the Bible didn't specifically say it was wrong.  Masturbation soon became an unbreakable habit.   I became a slave to the habit.  My lust-filled thought life, wandering eyes and pornography helped cement my bondage to masturbation.  (see the rest of HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/Author's_Story.htm" my story)

I have carefully examined the scriptures and arrived at the following points concerning masturbation.  I encourage you to read the scriptures cited and seek God's answer for your life concerning this practice.

Masturbation serves lust and lust is sin:   The Bible equates fantasizing about sin with committing the sin.  Jesus said, "But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" in  Matthew 5:28.    It is impossible to separate masturbation from lust.   Lust and masturbation easily form a bondage very difficult to break.   If you are filling your mind with sexual images, your thoughtlife will naturally dwell on them, fantasizing about sex.  You're thinking about how you would best fulfill your cravings.  Jesus said that is sin.   When you fill your mind with sinful desires, you are drawn further  from God.  God calls you away from that type of thinking, and to be free of even the hint of sexual sin:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.   Ephesians 5:3

See also HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Ephesians+2%3A1-3&version=NKJV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Ephesians 2:1-3, and our page on HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/lust.htm" Lust

Masturbation brings us into bondage:  Can you stop masturbating?   If you can't stop, then you have been mastered by it.  This is called bondage.  There are only two things that you can be a slave to:   sin or righteousness.  There are no other masters.   Which master does masturbation serve?  Does it encourage you to focus on God, or does it focus on fulfilling your desires apart from God?  Masturbation serves lust, and therefore sin is it's master.  God calls us not to allow sin to master us:  "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" (Genesis 4:7 NKJV).  The importance of choosing the right master in our lives cannot be understated.  The quality of our spiritual life on earth and degree to which God uses us to accomplish his purposes will depend on our choice of masters.

"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12

Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:16

See also HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+Corinthians+10%3A23-24&version=NKJV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

God owns your body, which is a temple for God's Spirit:  If you are a believer of Jesus Christ, God's Holy Spirit lives in communion with your spirit.   If you think about that, that is an awesome and fearful thing.  It is awesome because you have the Spirit of the living God dwelling with you, and standing ready to help you.  It is fearful because when you sin you grieve the Holy Spirit.  God sees everything you do and knows your every thought.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

See also HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+Corinthians+3%3A16+&version=NKJV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" 1 Corinthians 3:16 and HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/ownership.htm" God Owns You

Masturbation reinforces "carnal mindedness":  Since the desires of the flesh run contrary to those of the Spirit, masturbation inhibits your ability to follow the Holy Spirit.  Paul calls this condition being "carnally minded" and affirms that it is death.  A mind filled with lust and images of sexual sin is not be able to also hold the thoughts of God, nor can it properly grow the fruits of God's Spirit.  It is dead in sin.  Setting the mind on the following the Holy Spirit is "life and peace."

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  Romans 8:5-8 NKJV

You are God's vessel, to be used for His purposes:   In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:20-22

The requirement to be used for noble purposes is that the person must cleanse himself from the ignoble purposes.  He must "flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace."   God then responds by completing the person's holiness and uses that person for his good works.

Your body is to be presented and used as an instrument of righteousness (not sin):  One of the steps to breaking slavery to sin is choosing what your body is used for.   Often people may forget that they retain the power to choose what they will do with their body.  Sin may try to deceive a person to thinking that they are uncontrollably enslaved to it's desires.   Presenting the body as an instrument of righteousness asserts one's authority over sin through Jesus Christ.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  Romans 6:12-13 NKJV

Masturbation and lust are deceitful:  Have you bought the idea that masturbation and lust aren't that bad for your spiritual health?  Have you allowed masturbation and lust a comfortable place in your life?  Or, are you letting Satan condemn you and tell you that since you masturbate, you'll never be good enough to approach God?   Either case reveals deceit.  Deceit is a distinguishing characteristic of our old nature, which we are called to put off:  Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4: 22-24).

The truth is that masturbation can rob you of many of the blessings God has planned for your life. God calls you to put off masturbation and lust and everything else that is part of the sinful person that Jesus Christ died for on the cross.  Jesus was resurrected, so that you also could live in a new life, free from the slavery of sin.

Typical Questions:
Isn't masturbation just a normal, healthy release of sexual energy and biological buildup?
No.  Aside from the spiritual reasons we've cited here, there are some biological reasons for not masturbating.   Masturbation causes our bodies to become sexually responsive to masturbation instead of the heterosexual stimulation of "normal" sex.   For a man, this change in sexual responsiveness affects his  ability to be sexually excited by his wife, gain and maintain an erection, restrain himself during sex so his wife can reach orgasm and reach an orgasm himself.   He is likely to be so "tuned" to himself sexually, that he is unable to give sexual expression to his wife in a loving way.  His sexual actions become totally focused on self-gratification.   Pornography further complicates the problem because sexual activity usually conjures up memories of porn depictions he has found stimulating.   He may find himself having to think about the porn depictions in order to be satisfied during sex.  If his wife does not look as good to him as the porn stars, or does not want to do what he has fantasized about doing through porn, he will be disappointed and probably upset.   This obviously severely damages the marriage sex life.   This process is reversible with God's help.    Our sexual responses can be retuned to our spouse and desire for our spouse can be restored.   These changes take place when we stop masturbating and start dedicating our sexuality to God.   It may take several months or longer, but we can be healed.

I'm addicted to masturbation and the temptations are irresistible.   How do I even begin to start on the journey out of this habit?   HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/Temptation.htm" Temptations are resistible and we recommend starting your journey with examining your relationship with God.  Satan loves to condemn people who have fallen into masturbation addiction.   Ask the Lord for forgiveness, claim your forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ and rebuke Satan in the name of Jesus Christ.  Visit our section on HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/freedom_journey.htm" Freedom Journey for helpful ideas on drawing near to God for help in the journey out.   The advantages and blessings to getting free from masturbation far outweigh the temporal pleasure it may bring.

Final Thoughts:  HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+Corinthians+6%3A11-20&version=NKJV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" 1 Corinthians 6:11-20 says that we have been sanctified by God in order that will glorify God with our bodies.   Christians were bought with the Christ's blood and their bodies now belong to the Holy Spirit.  If you are a Christian, you have an obligation, therefore, not to live focused on fulfilling your fleshly lusts, but rather, to live focused on fulfilling the desires of the Holy Spirit ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Romans+8%3A12-13&version=NKJV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Romans 8:12-13).  You can choose to serve your flesh or God.   We all are in various stages of still serving ourselves, but masturbation poses the great danger of a lifelong bondage and a handicapped spiritual walk.

During the years since then, God has taught me how to walk in sexual purity.  I learned about the spiritual side of sexual sin and other temptations.  I learned how to receive healing from God and walk with him on a daily basis.  I learned how the Holy Spirit plays a key role in helping us live as new persons in Christ.  I've written about all of these things in the pages of this website in order to help others escape the snare of sex addiction and walk in victory that God has prepared for them.

If you are struggling with a sexual addiction, I want you to know that you too can have freedom.  God is the one who can give you reliable help to permanently break addiction.  There is no limit to the ways that God can and will move in your life if you ask him to.  Visit our HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/freedom_testimonials.htm" Freedom Testimonials page to read what God is doing in peoples' lives right now.

Teen Sex Addiction

Sex addiction is not restricted to any age group, but it seems to often get rooted during the teen years.  We wanted to address the teens out there in the hopes that they will join the growing numbers of people breaking free of addiction.  This page is written primarily to teens who are interested in living to please God.  If you do not know God, but are interested in learning about him, please visit our HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/peacewithGod.htm" Peace with God page.

The habits you form and the thought patterns you practice during your teen years are setting the foundations for the rest of your life.  Pornography and other "sexually-charged" material cement unforgettable memories in your mind that will affect your future marriage and sex life.  It will also corrupt your everyday thought patterns and how you relate to people.  Other consequences  can include:

Grieving God's Spirit

Giving the devil a foothold to oppress you

Curses on you, your partner and your future children

Spiritual confusion

Emotional confusion

Unbridled pursuit of lust and perversion

These are just a few of the many possible consequences that could affect your body, mind and spirit.  Please see HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/consequences.htm" Consequences of Sex Sin for more info.

Things that make your situation challenging:  Your situation as a teen has many factors that can make resisting sexual sin very difficult.  Each one of these factors is manageable with God's help.

Raging hormones:  It may seem a cruel reality that the hormones kick in during our teen years and heighten our sexual awareness and sensitivity.  The urges can be so potent that the idea of waiting several years for marriage to enjoy sex is hard to imagine.  It is possible to wait!  The rewards for doing so include maximum intimacy with your future spouse and a memory free of past sexual encounters.

Masturbation:  Many teens fall into a masturbation habit for one reason or another.  It is often regarded as a harmless release of sexual energy and some even deem it beneficial.  The truth is that masturbation increases the sexual pressures in your mind and body. It actually makes it more difficult to walk in sexual purity.  Please visit our HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/masturbation.htm" masturbation page for more info.

Computers:  As a teen , you are probably well skilled at using the computer to find what you want on the internet.  Teens often can run circles around their parents and keep them in the dark about what they've been viewing on the web, and/or who they've been chatting with.  Leveling with your parents will require you to surrender any HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/pride.htm" pride that you have, and courage to help your parents understand the extent of your sex addiction problem.  If they are enabling you to continue your addiction by their lack of computer knowledge, then you owe it to them to tell them how they can help you.

Peer Pressure:  Pride and the hunger for approval are the underlying drivers in the power of peer pressure.  This power can be significant, and it has often ruined people early in life through sexual promiscuity, drugs and alcohol.  The power can be broken when we look to God in humility for our identity, approval and rewards in life.  This often means we may appear to be foolish, prudish, religious, naive and unpopular with our "friends."  People may even mock us.  Jesus said that we will be blessed when people mock and ridicule us for his name's sake ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Matthew+5%3A10-12&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Matthew 5:10-12).  God will help us in those situations by strengthening our hearts to continue to walk the narrow road ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Psalm+31%3A24&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Psalm 31:24).

Television and Movies: TV and movies powerfully affect our judgment.  Part of the reason they are so powerful is that they use a combination of sensory impressions to communicate a worldly value system that is contrary to God's commands for healthy living.  The entertainment industry is constantly promoting sexual promiscuity in every form.  If you continue to feed your mind with TV and movies, you will be more likely to buy into the sexual fantasies they portray.  Additionally, your chances of breaking sex addiction will be very slim.

Sources for Help:  If you sense God prompting you to get help for your situation, I encourage you to take steps now.  The longer you delay responding to God, the more chance you have of being distracted by the temptations of the world.  Here are some sources for further help:

Take our online course HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/freedom_journey.htm" Freedom Journey

HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/temptation.htm" Start fighting the temptations

HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/church.htm" Get hooked up with good church and youth group

Start having daily HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/quiet_time.htm" Quiet Times with God

Truth to Remember:  The truth is the greatest weapon we have against the devil's lies.  Truth destroys the power of the lies.  Here are some key truths to keep in mind as you move forward:

God gave us HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/sex.htm" sex as one of the greatest gifts of all.  When we reserve our sexuality for our marriage, we maximize our chances for intimacy, sexual satisfaction, peace and fidelity.

Sex before marriage (fornication) is sin ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1COR+6:9;2COR+12:21;GAL+5:19;HEB+13:4;COL+3:5;&language=english&version=NKJV" 1 Corinthians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 12:21, Galatians 5:19; Hebrews 13:4; Colossians 3:5) and it has destructive consequences.

Fantasizing about sex sin is just as sinful as physically committing the act ( HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Matthew+5%3A28&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Matthew 5:28).

Your eyes are the gateways to your soul.  Whatever you allow to fill your eyes, will fill your soul.  Jesus said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  Matthew 6:22-23

Tips for success in fighting daily temptations:

Ask God to strengthen you and show you the way out of any temptation you might face

Ask God to funnel your sex drive energy into healthy, nonsexual activities

Praise God.  This can be singing a song, reading a scripture (ex. psalm) or simply telling God how much you love him.  HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/praise.htm" Praise helps connect you with God's power that will help you overcome the temptations and any evil forces behind them.

Commit your eyes to only look at pure and wholesome things, i.e. don't lust after people at school, stop looking at porn, destroy any magazines and/or image files that are causing you to sin.

Commit to reading the Bible each day, along with some prayer and praise time. Pray that God will protect you from temptation throughout the day.

Memorize some key temptation verses to recite when you feel it coming on.  For example: HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+Corinthians+10%3A13%3B+Hebrews+2%3A18&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 2:18.  HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Psalm+119%3A9-11&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Psalm 119:9-11 is an excellent verse to keep in mind at all times.  (see more HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/verses_temptation.htm" temptation verses)

Find some other members of the same sex who are committed to sexual purity and meet on a regular basis to discuss your walk with God and keep each other accountable.

When you fall, don't give up and don't accept the devil's condemnation.  Approach God with a repentant heart and ask for Him to forgive you and strengthen you again. Jesus paid the price for your sin!  HYPERLINK "http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Psalm+51&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english" Psalm 51 is excellent to pray in this situation.

Reasons to Keep Your Virginity Until Marriage

These are just some the reasons we came up with for why its best to wait until marriage for sex.  If you have already lost your virginity, you can renew your commitment to God and yourself to keep any further sexual activity set aside for your marriage bed.

1) Once you've lost it, you can't get it back

2) God commands you to keep sex for marriage

3) Fornication (sex before marriage) is a sin

4) Your marriage sex life will be MUCH better if you wait

5) Virginity is one of the greatest gifts you can give your future wife or husband

6) Having sex before marriage increases your risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease (Aids, Venereal Disease, Herpes, etc..)

7) Sexual intercourse causes you to be one in spirit and in flesh with another person. You will have difficulty cutting these ties to this person when you marry another person in the future.

8) Sex without the commitment of a lifetime is an empty act.  It will undoubtedly fail to match the high expectations you have for it. It usually takes years to develop intimacy with your spouse, and physical intimacy in sex is closely (or intimately) related to this overall emotional & spiritual intimacy. It takes work and it takes true love. Love without the lifetime commitment is not strong enough to develop your sexual experience into God's perfect and wonderful plan for it.

9) Having sex before marriage risks pregnancy.  It's one thing to have sex without the security of a lifetime commitment, but try raising children without that commitment. If the parents stick together, that helps, but nothing can substitute a child's security in knowing that his/her parents  are committed to each other and aren't going to leave when things get tough.

10) Premarital sex cheapens one of God's greatest gifts to man. Even Satan can't reproduce his own kind. God allowed man to be a "steward" of the process in which life is created. It's fitting for man to observe the simple instructions God gave him for how and when sex should happen. God created the process, so shouldn't he best understand the guidelines for great sex?

HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/" \t "_top" Home         HYPERLINK "http://www.porn-free.org/teen_sex.htm" Teen Sex

Será que a ausência do pai em casa tem efeito nelas também? Claro que tem. Compara as estatísticas de gravidez na adolescência de hoje (mais do que uma milhão bebês nasceram no ano passado de mães adolescentes) com as estatísticas de 30 anos atrás.

Mais de 50% das adolescentes brasileiras sem escolarização, entre 15 e 19 anos, já têm pelo menos um filho.

Apesar de campanhas do Ministério de Saúde, relatório do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) revela que, no ano passado, dos 2,5 milhões de partos realizados nos hospitais públicos, 689 mil (27,56%) forma de adolescentes.

Pesquisas divulgadas pelo Ministério da Saúde e pela Agência Norte-americana para o desenvolvimento Internacional (Usaid) mostram que entre 1986 e 1996 dobrou a quantidade de jovens que teve a sua primeira relação sexual entre os 15 e 19 anos.

Dados do Ministério da Saúde revelam que, em 1999, 50% dos homens e 30% das mulheres já haviam tido uma relação sexual completa antes dos 15 anos. Mais de 20% das mulheres entre 13 e 19 anos tiveram pelo menos uma gestação.

O aumento do número de adolescentes que se tornam mães cada vez mais cedo é um fenômeno que transcende as fronteiras nacionais. Nos Estados Unidos, por exemplo, pesquisas mostram que a incidência de gravidez entre mulheres dessa faixa etária cresceu em 74,4%, no período entre 1975 e 1989. Dados de 1990 dão conta de que os partos com mães adolescentes representaram 12,5% de todos os nascimentos naquele país

Segundo o sistema de Informações Hospitalares (SIH), nos sete primeiros meses, deste ano, o Sistema Único de Saúde realizou mais de 32 mil partos em adolescentes entre 10 e 14 anos.

Segundo uma pesquisa chamada "Comportamento Sexual da População Brasileira", realizada pelo Ministério da Saúde em parceria com o Cebrap em 1998 e 1999, o início da vida sexual do jovem brasileiro está mais precoce do que há duas décadas.

Comparados a uma pesquisa realizada em 1984, esses novos resultados apontam para um fato alarmante: hoje, um terço das meninas e metade dos meninos já transaram antes dos 15 anos no Brasil.

Em 1984, só 13,6% das meninas tinham tido uma relação sexual completa antes dos 15 anos. Esse número saltou para 32,3% em 98. Entre os garotos, o número de jovens com a primeira relação sexual antes dos 15 pulou de 35,2% em 1984 para 46,7% em 98.

"Cresce, em todo o País, o número de partos feitos em adolescentes com idade entre 10 e 19 anos. Somente em 1999, de um total de 2,5 milhões de partos realizados, cerca de 700 mil foram de mães nesta faixa etária, o que corresponde a 28% do total de partos realizados na rede pública de saúde".

Aproximadamente 22% de todos os partos são indesejados.

Gravidez não desejada resulta em 50-60 milhões de abortos anualmente, 20 milhões feitos em condições de risco.

Até 10% de todos os abortos ocorrem em meninas de 15-19 anos, adolescentes estão mais propícios a procurar abortamento em estado gestacional adiantado onde os riscos são maiores.

Os números são assustadores: por ano, são mais de 600.000 (seiscentos mil!!) partos de adolescentes no Brasil; por ano, são feitos algo em torno de 500.000 (quinhentos mil!!) abortamentos no Brasil, todos clandestinos e ilegais, uma vez que nossa legislação os proíbe. Com isso, podemos estimar que 1.100.000 (um milhão e cem mil!!) adolescentes engravidam por ano no Brasil. Pensando relativamente, a expectativa é de que uma em cada 17 adolescentes engravide nos próximos meses. Não é de espantar? Como se isso fosse pouco, veja os dados da OMS:

"O Brasil, segundo a Organização Mundial de Saúde, é o país onde mais se pratica aborto (10% dos abortos mundiais), sendo que para cada criança que nasce, duas são abortadas. São 13.090 abortos por dia, 570 por hora, 0,5 por minuto. Como conseqüência do aborto praticado por parteiras e curiosas, ou por médicos em lugares sem a mínima condição de higiene, são muitos os casos em que a mulher sofre seqüelas graves."

A Pesquisa Nacional em Demografia e Saúde, de 1996, mostrou um dado alarmante; 14% das adolescentes já tinhas pelo menos um filho e as jovens mais pobres apresentavam fecundidade dez vezes maior. Entre as garotas grávidas atendidas pelo SUS no período de 1993 a 1998, houve aumento de 31% dos casos de meninas grávidas entre 10 e 14 anos. Nesses cinco anos, 50 mil adolescentes foram parar nos hospitais públicos devido a complicações de abortos clandestinos. Quase três mil na faixa dos 10 a 14 anos.

Cerca de 20% das crianças que nascem a cada ano no Brasil são filhas de adolescentes. Comparado à década de 70, três vezes mais garotas com menos de 15 anos engravidam hoje em dia.

Dados do relatório da Agência de Planejamento Familiar das Nações Unidas (Unfpa) revelam que uma em cada quatro mulheres no mundo tem um filho ainda na infância, a maioria delas nos países pobres. No Brasil a situação não é diferente: cerca de 1 milhão de jovens tornam-se mães antes de completar 19 anos. De 1993 até hoje, o número de jovens mães de 10 a 14 anos aumentou em 31%. A cada 17 minutos uma garota dessa faixa etária torna-se mãe.

Depressão e Suicídio

Durante muitos anos, acreditou-se que os adolescentes não eram afetados por esta doença, mas atualmente os especialistas sabem que os adolescentes são tão suscetíveis à depressão quanto os adultos. Em todas as faixas etárias, a depressão é um distúrbio que deve ser encarado seriamente. Ela pode interferir de maneira significante na vida diária, nas relações sociais e no bem-estar geral. Nos casos mais graves, a depressão pode levar ao suicídio.

Embora seja um problema pouco conhecido entre os jovens, a doença pode atingi-los facilmente, uma vez que os adolescentes freqüentemente enfrentam várias situações novas e pressões sociais; para alguns, esse período de transição costuma ser turbulento, trazendo alterações de humor e crises emocionais. Embora muitos pensem que estas mudanças de comportamento são normais nos jovens, há evidências de que estes problemas não fazem parte, necessariamente, do processo normal de amadurecimento. Elisabete Fernandes Almeida

Não se sabe exatamente os motivos que levam os jovens a se sentirem profundamente tristes e deprimidos, porém, sabe-se que o mundo em que vivemos está se tornando cada vez mais complexo, e muitos adolescentes se sentem despreparados para lidar com as novas situações e os problemas decorrentes desta realidade. 
Uma tristeza não resolvida, seja pela morte de um ente querido, pela perda de um amigo ou pelo rompimento de uma relação amorosa, além de problemas emocionais e familiares, também contribuem para o aparecimento do quadro depressivo. Elisabete Fernandes Almeida

Um terço dos adolescentes americanos já sofreu de depressão, aponta um estudo apresentado durante o encontro anual da Academia Americana de Psiquiatria para Adolescentes e Crianças, em São Francisco, nos Estados Unidos. Porém, apenas 20% pediram ajuda médica. Entre os jovens de 15 a 19 anos, 35,5% disseram que haviam se sentido deprimidos por duas semanas

Estando completamente sem apoio no meio familiar, pode buscar desesperadamente o apoio de um grupo de iguais, o qual, pode ser constituído de jovens problemáticos ou francamente delinqüentes. Sem o suporte da família e entre amigos que são fonte insuficiente de apoio, encontramos o ambiente favorável para o desenvolvimento da depressão do adolescente

Segundo os especialistas, a depressão comumente aparece pela primeira vez em pessoas com idade entre 15 e 19 anos. De fato, observou-se nas duas últimas décadas um aumento muito grande do número de casos de depressão com início na adolescência. As pesquisas também mostraram que cerca de 20% dos estudantes do 2º grau sentem-se profundamente infelizes ou têm algum tipo de problema psiquiátrico.

Nos casos mais graves, a depressão pode levar ao suicídio.

“Entre os fatores psiquiátricos associados ao suicídio, em primeiro lugar está a depressão, alteração afetiva predominante no ato suicida, desde sua ideação, intenção até o suicídio de fato. Apesar de vários motivos ou explicações rodearem o suicídio dos adolescentes, como por exemplo, os fatores de ordem sexual, as drogas, timidez, fracasso escolar, problemas sentimentais, de relação familiar, e muitos outros, se a pessoa passar por tudo isso sem depressão ela, certamente, não se suicidará. Alguns autores consideram que, além da depressão, tem sido comum em adolescentes suicidas também um transtornos de conduta” (Beyaert, 1999).

Especialistas observam que entre os jovens de alto risco, muitos tomam a trágica decisão de cometer o suicídio logo após uma situação de grande tensão, como por exemplo o rompimento brusco de um relacionamento, um fracasso na escola, uma briga com os pais, ou um problema com autoridades.

Atualmente, a Segunda principal causa de morte entre jovens de 15 a 19 anos de idade é o suicídio. A primeira causa são os acidentes, principalmente com automóveis.

Dados recolhidos de 1979 a 1995 revelam, o crescimento de 40% nos casos de suicídios cometido pôr pessoas com até 24 anos.

As estatísticas não mentem: vem aumentando o número de jovens entre 15 e 19 anos que tentam suicídio. ATA DE FUNDAÇÃO

Um dado interessante é que o número de tentativas fracassadas de suicídio supera cerca de dez vezes o número das que resultam efetivamente em morte. ATA DE FUNDAÇÃO

O dado é estarrecedor: segundo o IBGE, no Brasil o número de suicídio de jovens aumentou 30% entre 1991 e 2000.

A idéia do suicídio passar pela cabeça de alguém na adolescência é uma coisa normal. (psicanalista Tenório Lima)

O CVV (Centro de Valorização da Vida) é um serviço telefônico grátis que atende 24 horas pessoas que pensam em suicídio. Recebem 4.000 ligações por mês só na cidade de São Paulo.

O CVV não tem estatísticas que mostrem o número de chamadas de adolescentes, mas, segundo Arthur (que não quis revelar o sobrenome), voluntário em Pinheiros, o número é grande.

A cada cinco minutos, um jovem – preponderantemente do sexo masculino - se suicida. Atualmente, pelo menos 100 mil adolescentes cometem suicídio em todo o mundo. No Brasil, em 1997 foram registrados 683 suicídios na faixa etária de até 19 anos, o que representa cerca de 10% do número total de mortes por essa causa Dra. Maria Aparecida Andrés Ribeiro

Nesses vinte anos, os números de acidentes de trânsito aumentaram em 40%; e os de suicídios em 35%. Dra. Maria Aparecida Andrés Ribeiro

Infelizmente, nos últimos 30 anos, o índice de suicídio entre adolescentes triplicou.

É terrível pensar nesta possibilidade, mas a trágica realidade é que o suicídio tornou-se atualmente a segunda principal causa de morte entre jovens de 15 a 19 anos de idade, (A primeira causa são os acidentes, principalmente com automóveis). 0 índice de suicídio entre pessoas jovens triplicou nos últimos 30 anos. As estatísticas mostram que cerca de 40% dos estudantes de 2º grau pensaram, em algum momento, em por fim à própria vida.

Os jovens morrem principalmente de causas violentas e o suicídio é a terceira causa de morte em adolescentes. Para cada suicídio de um adolescente, existem 10 tentativas. As moças tentam 3 vezes mais o suicídio que os rapazes, mas os rapazes alcançam a morte mais freqüentemente que as moças e utilizam métodos mais violentos. Enio A. M. Resmini

As estatísticas mostram que cerca de 40% dos estudantes de 2º grau pensaram, em algum momento, em por fim à própria vida

Em dados publicados pelo Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Department of Health and Human Services), United States, 1997. MMWR 1998;47 (No. SS-3), pode-se entender que a tentativa de suicídio é mais freqüente em adolescentes femininas (27,1%) que masculinos (15,1%). Também se vê que 20,5% dos jovens examinados tinham considerado seriamente tentar o suicídio nos últimos 12 meses e, destes, 15,7% tinham feito uma plano específico para o suicídio, além disso, 7,7% dos adolescentes pesquisados tentaram o suicídio uma ou mais vezes nos 12 meses que precedem a pesquisa.

Variáveis familiares costumam estar fortemente associadas com o ato suicida de adolescentes. Algumas dessas variáveis dizem respeito à estrutura familiar, bem como às e relações entre os membros da família (Kurtz & Derevenske, 1993; Paluszne, Davenport & Kim, 1991; Wagner e Cohem, 1994).