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Adolescent
Suicide.
Only car accidents and homicide surpass suicide as the leading
cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. According to the
latest teenage suicide statistics, suicide is the third leading cause
of death for adolescent people.
Approaching epidemic proportions, teenage and adolescent suicide is a grave problem
with a young person committing suicide every hour and forty-five
minutes.
For every adolescent suicide, they are 50 to 100 suicide
attempts.
The adolescent suicide rate has tripled
since 1970. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among
college students.
When teenagers have access to guns, they are more at risk according to
adolescent suicide statistics. As many as 60 percent of
all successful suicides in the United States are committed with a
firearm.
Adolescent girls are twice as likely to
attempt suicide as teenage boys by cutting themselves or taking an
overdose. Teenage boys
are more likely to die by hanging or jumping off buildings or
bridges. Adolescent males choose more
lethal methods and are three or four times more likely to succeed
in their suicide attempts than teenage females.
Some of the fact risk factors for adolescent suicide include having a firearm
in the home. High risk
factors also include mental illness, depression and substance
abuse. Ninety percent of teenage suicide victims have at least one
diagnosable, active psychiatric illness at the time of death.
According to teenage suicide statistics from 2001 suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United
States. Teenage suicide statistics from 2001 also reveal the
following fact information:
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Among adolescent people 20 to 24 years of age, the suicide rate was
12/100,000 or 2,360 deaths among 19,711,423 people.
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Suicide was the eighth leading cause of death for males, and
19th leading cause of death for females.
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The suicide rate among adolescents aged 15 to 19 was 7.9/100,000
or 1,611 deaths among 20,271,312 adolescents in this age group.
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Suicide was the third leading cause of death among adolescent people
15 to 24 years of age, following unintentional injuries and
homicide.
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The suicide rate among teenage and pre-teen children ages 10 to 14 was 1.3/100,000 or
272 deaths among 20,910,440 children in this age group.
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Four out of five teenage people who try to kill themselves gave clear
signals of their intent.
Parents should pay attention to teenage suicide statistics that
identify signs of suicide such as giving away prized possessions,
cleaning the bedroom, sleeping all of the time, writing depressing
poetry or skipping class. Teens at risk for suicide may be obsessed with death.
During a national school-based survey of 10,904 high school
teenage
students in grades 9-12, researchers discovered 24.1 percent of
teenage students had thought seriously about attempting suicide during the
12 months preceding the survey.
This data statistics showed 8.7 percent of teenage students had
attempted suicide; 17.7 percent of teenage students had made a specific
plan to attempt suicide; 2.8 percent of students had made a
suicide attempt, which resulted in poisoning, an injury, or
overdose.
Teenage suicide data also break down risk by gender, age and
race. Adolescent female
students (30.4 percent) were significantly more likely than
adolescent male
students (18.3 percent) to have thought seriously about attempting
suicide. In terms of race, white teenage students (24.9 percent) were
significantly more likely than black teenage students (20.0 percent) to
have thought seriously about attempting suicide.
Teenage students
in grade 11 (26.3 percent) were significantly more likely than
teenage students in grade 12 (20.0 percent) to have thought seriously
about attempting suicide.
If you suffer from depression and have strong suicide urges,
please seek the help of a professional therapist as soon as
possible. You can find mental health professionals who specialize
in suicide prevention by looking in your local Yellow Pages under
Mental Health and/or Suicide Prevention. Local crisis lines may
also be available. If not, call (800)-SUICIDE.
If in the midst of an acute suicide attack, check yourself into
the emergency room or tell someone who can help you find help
immediately. This is not the time to try to handle the situation
alone. After getting past the immediate risk of suicide, it is
crucial to find effective help for depression.
Related Articles on Suicide:
Depression and Suicide
II
If You Want to Commit
Suicide II
Suicide Prevention
II
Suicide Statistics
II
Suicide
Warning Signs II
Antidepressants and Suicide
II
Youth Suicide
II
Adolescent Suicide
II
Teen Suicide Statistics
II
Elderly Suicide
II
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