Teen Suicide

Adolescent suicide is an epidemic that has been spreading throughout the United States for over 50 yeas. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2002), the suicide rate in adolescents ages 15 to 19 increased 28.3% from 1980 to 1992 in the United States. Adolescent suicide is ranked the third leading cause of adolescent death, behind accidents and homicide (Ayyash-Abdo, 2002).

For every completed suicide, it is estimated that 50 to 150 adolescents have attempted suicide (Dryfoos, 1990). These numbers indicate the large-growing number of adolescents that are affected by suicide. Although this topic is extremely prevalent, suicide seems to be a relatively taboo topic within our society. Thus, understanding the general information, detection, prevention, and possible interventions about adolescent suicide is vital to changing this alarming trend. Many statistics have been obtained on adolescent suicide over the years.

Approximately 5,000 American adolescents committed suicide each year and about 500,000 attempted suicide each year (Ackerman, 1993). About 60% of teenagers personally knew other teenagers who attempted suicide, 15% of teenagers considered committing suicide, and 6% of teenagers actually attempted suicide themselves. Additionally, 57% of teenagers reported that the home life exerted a great deal of influence on teens’ behaviors.

The aforementioned statistics provide empirical evidence that suicide is a “significant social issue touching a majority of America’s youth” (Ackerman, p. 183, 1993).  In 1994, every 1 hour and 39 minutes, on average, one person under 24 years of age killed themselves (Speaker & Petersen, 2000). Suicide has increased 300% in the past 30 years, and 67.5% of the total completed suicides were by firearms.