Teenage suicide

Teenage suicide is the self-killing of a teenager. Although the suicide rate among youth significantly decreased in the mid-1990s, suicide deaths remain high in the 15 to 24 age group with 3,971 suicides in 2001 and over 132,000 suicide attempts in 2002, making it the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the suicide rate for males between 15 and 24 has risen consistently since 1989, while that for females in the same age group has remained largely static. However, given the overall decline in the suicide rate in the UK, the rise in suicide amongst the 15-24 male population has been a considerable cause for concern. More preventive measures have been taken in the last ten years, including increased understanding of the risk factors and causes and spreading information to schools and parents.

High-risk groups
Teenage bipolar disorder can be a huge factor in teenage suicide.
 * Teenagers who have attempted suicide before. Approximately a third of all teenagers who commit suicide have made a previous suicide attempt.
 * Teenagers who talk about suicide. Four out of five people give warnings before attempting suicide.
 * Rape/sexual abuse victims.
 * Adolescents who are or have been in Youth detention centers or boot camps.
 * Adolescents who are physically or mentally disabled.
 * Those who participate in substance abuse.
 * Adolescents who have a mental disorder, such as clinical depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, social anxiety, or bipolar disorder. Over 90% of teen suicide victims have a mental disorder, depression, or a history of alcohol or drug abuse.
 * Teenagers who have recently received a life-changing event, such as blindness, loss of limbs, and deafness
 * Teenagers of conduct disorder (a high level of aggressiveness).
 * LGBT teens, i.e., those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
 * Students who failed in school/exams.
 * Minority Indigenous adolescents, e.g. Native Americans, Indigenous Australians.
 * Teenagers from emotionally dysfunctional families, where they do not feel safe to talk about things or show their true feelings, and where they are regularly invalidated.
 * Victims of bullying or domestic abuse.
 * Children of divorced parents.
 * Children with restrictive parents.
 * Children who are having difficulty with school work, for example A levels or GCSEs.
 * Although many assume that adolescents who live in poverty or low-income families are more likely to commit suicide, statistics have shown that there is no major correlating factor between economic status and suicide risk, although living in poverty is a depression risk factor.

Population differences
In the U.S., male adolescent(s) commit suicide at a rate five times greater than that of female adolescents, although suicide attempts by females are three times as frequent as those by males. A possible reason for this is the method of attempted suicide for males is typically that of firearm use, with a 78-90% chance of fatality. Females are more likely to try a different method, such as ingesting poison. Females have more parasuicides.

Suicide rates vary for different ethnicities due to cultural differences. In 1998, white Americans accounted for 84% of all youth suicides, 61% male, 23% female. However, the suicide rate for Native Americans was 19.3 per 100,000, much higher than the overall rate (8.5 per 100,000). The suicide rate for African-Americans has increased more than two-fold since 1981. A national survey of high school students conducted in 1999 reported that Hispanic students are twice as likely to report an attempted suicide as white students.

A controversial U.S. government study, titled Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide, found that homosexual youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. Several researchers suggest that bisexual and youth uncertain of their sexual orientation may be at higher risk for suicidal behavior than self-proclaimed homosexual teenagers. Many homosexual teenagers who commit suicide may also suffer from mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders, making the connection more complicated. Institutionalized and internalized homophobia may also lead LGBT youth to think that their parents will throw them out and perhaps abuse them for being homosexual. It is impossible to know the suicide rate of homosexual youth because homosexuality is often hidden, particularly in this age group. Further research is currently being done to explain the prevalence of suicide among homosexual youths.

In 2004, 1,985 adolescents under the age of 20 committed suicide, an increase of 18% from the previous year.

On September 6, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported suicide rate in American adolescents (especially girls, 10 to 24 years old) increased 8% (2003 to 2004), the largest jump in 15 years. Specifically, in 2004 - 4,599 suicides in Americans ages 10 to 24, up from 4,232 in 2003, for a rate of 7.32 per 100,000 people that age. Before, the rate dropped to 6.78 per 100,000 in 2003 from 9.48 per 100,000 in 1990. The findings also reported that antidepressant drugs reduced suicide risk than increase it. Psychiatrists found that the increase is due to the decline in prescriptions of antidepressant drugs like Prozac to young people since 2003, leaving more cases of serious depression untreated. In a December 2006 study, The American Journal of Psychiatry said that a decrease in antidepressant prescriptions to minors of just a few percentage points coincided with a 14 percent increase in suicides in the United States; in the Netherlands, the suicide rate was 50% up, upon prescription drop.

Suicide prevention
Promoting overall mental health among adolescents is key to reducing possible suicidal thoughts. Some people argue that limiting young people's access to lethal weapons, such as firearms, may be a pivotal deterrent. Some school-based youth suicide awareness programs exist to try to increase high-school students' awareness of the problem, provide knowledge about the behavioral characteristics of teens at risk, and describe available treatment or counseling resources. However, some research has shown that this may have an unintended negative effect of suggesting suicide as an option for teenagers.

When talking to a teenage person who is contemplating suicide, it is important to take the threat seriously. Seventy-five percent of all suicides give some warning of their intentions to a friend or family member.

There are many methods of helping teenagers who are considering suicide. In order to help a suicidal person it is important to show the helper can be trusted and will listen. Seeing a doctor is widely recommended as well. A course doctors commonly take when presented with a young, suicidal patient is a combination of drug-based treatment (eg. imipramine or fluoxetine) with a 'talking-based' therapy, such as referral to a cognitive behaviour therapist. This kind of therapy concentrates on modifying self-destructive and irrational thought processes. When trying to help a teenager who is considering suicide, it's important to try to find out what is troubling the person. Lack of parental interest in their teenage children may be considered a factor in teenage suicide: according to one study 90 percent of suicidal teenagers believed their families did not understand them.

When confronted by a suicidal teen, do not try to argue them out of committing suicide, or attempt to make them feel guilty for considering suicide (e.g. "your family loves you so much, how could you think like this?"). This type of intervention can actually serve to alienate the child further. Instead, try to explore the reasons why the teenager is so unhappy and feels that suicide is the only solution. The teenager's pediatrician will also be able to plan a suitable course of treatment, or make a psychiatric referral, if the teenager is willing to engage with the proposed treatment.

In a crisis situation professional help must be sought, either at hospital or a walk-in clinic. There are also several telephone help numbers for help on teenage suicide, depending on one's location (country/state). Also, emergency services should be contacted immediately, in case the teenager makes a suicide attempt.