Adolescent Suicide

According to a report issued by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (1989):

Almost 30,000 Americans take their own lives each year. . .This number is greater than the annual number of homicides in the United States. . .About 5,000 suicides occur among young people between the ages of 15 and 24. That means that each day, 13 Americans in this age group kill themselves. Many more young people attempt suicide and fail. (p. 7)

In California, suicide is the 8th leading cause of death. Among adolescents, these figures are much higher showing clear distinctions along racial lines. Black adolescent males have the highest suicide rate, followed (respectively) by white males, white females, and black females.

Giffin and Felsenthal (1983) have discussed reasons why young people commit suicide. The authors note that while teen suicide can appear to be an impulsive act, it rarely is. The most common reason for suicide, Giffin and Felsenthal state, is loss. This loss can be either external such as in the loss of a good friend or a parent, or it can be internal such as the loss of self-respect o

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presence of one or more of these factors indicates the potential for suicide. Prevention and Treatment Eddy, Wolpert and Rosenberg (1989) state that suicide prevention/intervention efforts take six common forms: (1) affective education aimed at helping youth understand and cope with the types of problems that can lead to suicide; (2) early identification programs aimed at identifying high risk youths; (3) school-based screening programs; (4) crisis centers and hotlines; (5) providing better training and education on youth suicide to health care professionals; and (6) restriction of access to the three predominate means of suicide (guns, medications, and high places). The authors examined the effectiveness of each of the listed prevention/intervention efforts using survey methods in which an extensive researcher-designed questionnaire was distributed to 29 experts on youth suicide. On the average, experts believed that overall these methods prevented about 10 percent of youth suicides. As for particular programs, identification of at-risk youths programs were associated, in experts opinions, with preventing about 13 percent of suicides whereas it was estimated that school-based programs help about 8 percent of youths. Crisi
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Approximate Word count = 2776
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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