You can reach 700,000 people monthly with your message by becoming a proud sponsor of this award-winning Web site. Click here for more information and contact. Reduce Suicide Attempts Direct, confidential screening of high school students for risk factors such as previous suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts, and substance abuse have proven effective in identifying at-risk teens whose problems may be hidden from others, according to a study published in the March supplement to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Suicide remains one of the top causes of death for youth.
Almost twice as many youth die by suicide than from all natural causes. The article states that nearly 90 percent of teenagers who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental illness. Often those at highest risk are boys aged 17 to 19 who are depressed and drink heavily. The behavior they exhibit, such as drinking, results in being intoxicated at school or being arrested for driving while intoxicated. The report in the The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry demonstrates that many mental illnesses that increase suicide risk in teen years and adulthood begin in adolescence.