Adolescent Suicide Prevention

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death between the ages of 15 and 19, and over the last two decades the rate a suicide has increased 2 fold. Since this rise in suicide attention has shifted to focusing on prevention at a local level. Concern for adolescents has increased over the past decade, and it is well justified. There are almost as many suicides are there are homicides. The rate of suicide has increased by nearly 200 percent. Women are more likely to kill themselves than men, but men are four times as likely to complete it.

The most popular form of suicide prevention is suicide hotlines. There are more than 1,000 suicide hotlines in the US. They offer counseling services 24 hours a day usually by trained volunteers. These forms of prevention however are minimally effective in preventing suicidal behavior. A relatively new approach to prevention is a curriculum-based program. Although this program has been running for a while, the program was fairly ineffective. It did not impart knowledge or change the attitudes of many of the participants.