Publications - Suicide

Suicide Rates Are Rising In Nearly Every State, CDC Says, by Jamie Ducharme, TIME, Jun 7 2018.

“Suicide rates are climbing in nearly every demographic, age group and geographic area, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Deaths by suicide have increased by around 30% since 1999, claiming nearly 45,000 lives in 2016, according to the report. Those trends apply to nearly every segment of the U.S. population: Suicide rates have increased in 44 states, among all racial and ethnic groups and in every age range except adults older than 75. In half of all states, suicide rates increased by 30% or more. ”

Battling Depression And Suicide Among Female Veterans, by Jay Price, NPR, May 29 2018.

“The suicide rate for female veterans has soared 85 percent in recent years, leading the military, VA and advocacy groups to try new ways to improve women's mental health care during and after service. One key focus: how to tailor the sometimes tricky jump from the military to the civilian world. Women's experiences in the military are different from men's, so their transition needs to be different, too, said retired Army Col. Ellen Haring, director of research for the advocacy group Service Women's Action Network (SWAN). "The experiences you have on active duty carry with you, and then they manifest as mental wellness challenges as veterans," she said. "When you're transitioning out of the service, or when you return from a combat deployment to come back to a stateside demobilization and try to return to family or community, that's a challenging period." When that transition doesn't go well, the cost can be terrible. Female veterans are nearly 250 percent more likely to kill themselves than civilian women. ”

Study: Suicide Rates for Black Kids Under 13 Double That of Whites, by Traci Pedersen, Psych Central, May 22 2018.

“Suicide rates among whites have traditionally been higher than for blacks in the United States. However, a new study shows that the racial differences in suicide rates may be age-specific. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, reveal that suicide rates for black children aged 5-12 are approximately double than that for white children of similar ages...'It is important not to lose sight that very young children of all races are at risk of suicide,' said Dr. Joel Greenhouse, a co-author of the study and professor of statistics and data science at Carnegie Mellon University. 'Descriptive studies like this are important for identifying trends in suicide rates. However, they leave open the question as to why there are differences.' ”

Pediatricians urged to warn vulnerable kids away from '13 Reasons Why' Netflix series, by Anne Harding, Reuters, May 18 2018.

“Mental health professionals have raised alarms that the series - which closes with a graphic depiction of the main character killing herself - could push other young people toward suicide...In an article titled, “13 Things Pediatricians Should Know (and do) About 13 Reasons Why,” Dr. Michael B. Pitt and colleagues of the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis encourage doctors to warn vulnerable young patients - and their parents - away from the show...In reviewing records at their own health system, the authors identified more than 60 documented references to the show by 31 pediatric patients treated in the six months after “13 Reasons” first aired. Three-quarters of the patients were receiving treatment related to a suicide attempt, and more than half of the children’s parents said they feared the show had made their child’s mental health symptoms worse. The authors urge pediatricians to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ new guidelines calling for universal depression screening for patients aged 12 and older, and to ask their patients about their media consumption. ”

More Kids Are Attempting and Thinking About Suicide, According to a New Study, by Jamie Ducharme, TIME, May 16 2018.

“The number of kids hospitalized for thinking about or attempting suicide doubled in less than a decade, according to a study published Wednesday in Pediatrics...The largest increases were seen among adolescents between two age groups — 15 and 17, and 12 and 14 — according to the study. Increases were also higher among girls than boys, the study says. Interestingly, the researchers also observed significantly more suicide attempts or ideations during the school year; that’s in contrast to adults, among whom suicide rates tend to spike in spring and summer...Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that the number of teenagers dying by suicide is also on the rise. ”

Communication Issues Among Kids With Autism May Lead to Self-Harm, by Rick Nauert PhD, Psych Central, May 2 2018.

“A new study discovers communication problems among children can lead to depression and increase the risk of self-harm and suicidal intent during adolescence...The review comes in response to new findings that teen suicidality is under-recognized among children with ASD. Until now, community-based studies on suicidal thoughts and behaviors among children with symptoms of ASD have been limited...'Our study suggests that children who have difficulties with social communication are at higher risk for suicidal ideation and behavior in late adolescence,' said Dr. Iryna Culpin, senior research associate in the Bristol Medical School (PHS). 'Depressive symptoms in early adolescence partially explain this association.' ”

Religious faith linked to suicidal behavior in LGBQ adults, by Anne Harding, Reuters, Apr 13 2018.

“Although religiosity is generally tied to reduced suicide risk, the opposite may be true for some young lesbian, gay and questioning adults, researchers say. Based on data from more than 21,000 U.S. college students, researchers found that greater religious feeling and engagement was tied to increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions for participants who identified as LGBQ...Questioning youth had the highest rate of recent thoughts about suicide, at 16.4 percent, compared with 3.7 percent of heterosexuals, 6.5 percent of lesbian/gay individuals and 11.4 percent of bisexuals. ”

Irritability in childhood linked to teen suicide risk, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock , Reuters, Apr 11 2018.

“Most children experience mood swings from time to time, but kids with chronic irritability and serious depression or anxiety are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in adolescence, suggests a large Canadian study. Based on records for 1,430 children followed for up to 17 years, researchers found that those who were particularly irritable and depressed or anxious between ages 6 and 12 were twice as likely as peers to think about suicide or make a suicide attempt between ages 13 and 17. ”

Using transgender youths' chosen names may lower suicide risk, by Rachel Gurevich , Reuters, Apr 10 2018.

“When a transgender youth chooses a new name, it’s important for friends, relatives and acquaintances to use that chosen name, a new study suggests.  For those who selected a different name from the one given at birth, being called by the chosen name reduced depressive symptoms and overall suicidal risk, researchers found.  The reduction in mental health risks was strongest when the chosen name was used in multiple contexts, like at home, at school, at work, and among friends. ”

Guns tied to high suicide risk for teens with self-harm history, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Mar 20 2018.

“Teens and young adults who harm themselves without suicidal intent often kill themselves soon afterward, and the increased risk of death is greatest when guns are involved, a U.S. study suggests...Nonfatal self-harm is common among young people, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans aged 15 to 24, researchers note in Pediatrics. Nearly one-third of young people who die of suicide have nonfatal self-harm events in their final three months of life. ”

Sexual orientation top risk for suicidal thoughts in college freshmen, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock, Reuters, Mar 15 2018.

“ Nearly one third of first-year college students have thought about suicide, according to a study across eight countries, and non-heterosexual identity or feelings were the biggest risks for this kind of thinking or behavior. Having a religion other than Christianity, being female, having unmarried parents or at least one deceased parent and being age 20 or older were also important risk factors, though being a sexual minority also carried the highest risk of transitioning from suicidal thoughts to plans to attempts, the researchers found. ”

Self-inflicted injuries surge among tween and early teen girls, by Susan Scutti, CNN, Feb 13 2018.

“Emergency room visits for non-fatal, self-inflicted injuries surged in recent years among US girls and young women, especially those between the ages of 10 and 14, according to a new study. However, rates of self-harm among boys and young men between the ages of 10 and 24 remained stable throughout the years 2001 through 2015, the researchers said. 'Suicide is preventable,' said Melissa C. Mercado, lead author of the study published Tuesday in JAMA and a behavioral scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'These findings underscore the need for the implementation of evidence-based, comprehensive suicide- and self-harm-prevention strategies.' ”

Weight-loss surgery tied to slight increased risk of suicide, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Jan 30 2018.

“Obese people who get surgery to lose weight are slightly more likely to attempt suicide than their counterparts who try other approaches to shed excess pounds, a Swedish study suggests. The findings reinforce a need for thorough pre-surgery mental health assessments of bariatric patients, as well as for providing them with information about the risk of self-harm associated with the procedure and long term follow-up, the study team writes in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. ”

Childhood bullying linked to suicide risk for teens, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Jan 16 2018.

“Adolescents who experienced severe bullying by their peers earlier in childhood may be more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than teens who weren’t routinely victimized by other kids, a Canadian study suggests...Compared to teens who experienced little or no bullying as kids, adolescents who suffered chronic tormenting by their peers were more than twice as likely to be depressed and more than three times more likely to be anxious or seriously consider suicide, the study found...Adolescents who were chronically bullied as kids were also much more likely to experience social anxiety, eating problems, conduct issues and behavior challenges, the study found. ”

In An Industry Rife With Substance Abuse, Restaurant Workers Help Their Own, by Tove Danovich, NPR, Jan 16 2018.

“According to a 2015 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the food service and hospitality industry has the highest rates of substance use disorders and third-highest rates of heavy-alcohol use of all employment sectors. But until recently there weren't many resources dedicated toward helping restaurant industry professionals with these challenges. ”