Relationship between Self-Esteem and Social Support to Psychological Well-Being and Suicidal Ideation

Teenagers don't usually talk about suicide—not directly. But if you ask the right questions, they’ll tell you something that sounds close. We wanted to understand how self-esteem and social support might relate to suicidal thoughts among adolescents—not because we thought it was a new idea, but because we suspected the pattern was both obvious and overlooked. So we surveyed 298 tenth-grade students in Agusan del Sur National High School. We used a standard self-esteem scale, added questions about emotional, practical, and financial support, and measured how these things correlated with psychological well-being and suicidal ideation. The numbers did something both expected and unsettling: students with higher self-esteem and stronger social networks reported fewer suicidal thoughts. But that’s not the surprising part. What stood out was how neutral most students were when asked about suicidal ideation—not alarmed, not safe, just floating in the middle. Which suggests that many are quietly unsure about how much they matter. And maybe that’s the real danger—not crisis, but numbness. What this study shows isn’t just that self-esteem and support are protective. It shows how easy it is to miss what’s underneath the surface unless we ask better questions—and listen when the answers are quiet.