DR. WALLACE: I just returned home from the funeral of a 17-year-old friend who committed suicide. All the people who knew him are in shock. All I heard at the service was that he was the last person you would have thought would want to take his own life. All kinds of rumors were floating around, including some that were far-fetched.

What I really need to know is — why do teens kill themselves, and do more girls or guys commit suicide? — Andrew, Philadelphia. Pa.

ANDREW: A University of California research team interviewed over 6,000 teens who had attempted suicide and compared their life histories with teens who had never considered suicide. The data revealed that family problems, death of a loved one, and the breakup of a romantic relationship were the three most common reasons teens took their lives.

These three situations can result in confusion, loneliness and depression. The teen then feels hopeless, isolated and abandoned, and decides there is only one way to be at peace, and chooses self-destruction.

The teen years, because of all the emotional and physical changes they bring, are difficult for almost everyone. For some teens, these difficulties produce pain that is too much to bear, especially when combined with a major upset or disappointment.

I often get inquiries from readers who wonder why a young person would commit suicide when he has his entire life in front of him. Teens have no perspective on their troubles. They don't know that they'll emerge from them and that life will eventually feel worth living again. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death for adults in the United States, but for teens it ranks third. More boys commit suicide because they use more violent methods, whereas girls tend to use sleeping pills, and many times they can be saved.

FALL OF 2014 IS A LONG WAY OFF

DR. WALLACE: My boyfriend and I have been dating steadily for the past year. Both of us will be graduating in June of next year. In the fall, I will be a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, while he will be going to Purdue University in West Lafayette.

I want the freedom to have a social life by dating other guys. He wants us to stay faithful to each other and not date anyone else. He says we can still see each other on the weekends because our two campuses are only about 100 miles apart. I'd appreciate your comments. — Amanda, Carmel, Ind.

AMANDA: Weekends are a good time to catch up on studies, not to spend time on the highways. I would agree that you both should enjoy a campus social life and see each other occasionally, when time and studies allow. Fall of 2014 is a long way off. I'm wondering why you are concerned about dating others at this early date. Is it possible that you both could be dating others by Fall of 2014?

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.