He said society needs to know that suicide isn't all that rare. That year, CDC found in its annual survey of 10,000 high school students around the country that 20.5 percent of teens seriously considered suicide. A 1999 survey found that 19.3 percent had such thoughts. Dr. Richard Wahl, director of adolescent medicine in UA's Department of Pediatrics, notes that the Opinion Poll results on suicide attempts correspond to national figures on teens who've contemplated suicide. The CDC survey found that about 8 percent of U.S. teens have attempted suicide.
Experts say detecting risks early is the key to preventing suicide.
And new doctors are learning to be more proactive, Marshall said. Nationally, the American Academy of Pediatrics is encouraging doctors to regularly question teens during office visits. Teens are queried about their home and education life, social activities, drug status and concerns over their sexuality. In the first half of the 20th century, pediatricians were focused on infectious diseases, which killed most people, Wahl says. It is rededicating itself to that effort, Wahl said.