RESOURCES

TEENAGE DEPRESSION & SUICIDE - The Facts

Teenage Suicide is a Canadian epidemic that we need to take seriously.

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens in Canada and third leading cause of death in the US.
• Suicide and attempted suicide has increased 300% in the last thirty years.
• Teen/youth suicide rates have tripled since 1970.
• Nine out of ten suicides take place in the home.
• For every completed suicide there are an estimated 30 to 50 attempts.
• 70% of suicides occur between the hours of 3 p.m. to midnight (when they could be saved).
• Males complete suicide 4 times more often than females.
• Females account for 75% of the attempted suicides (mainly with drug overdoses).
• Approximately one-third of teens who die by suicide have made a previous suicide attempt.
• Males use more violent means, e.g. guns, hanging.
• Only 33 to 50 % were identified by their doctors as having a mental illness at the time of their death and only 15 percent of suicide victims were in treatment at the time of their death.
• In 1978, Regina High School students revealed that the majority felt sad or depressed regularly. 50% felt lonely sometimes, 25% felt lonely all the time, 40% admitted to thinking about suicide. 8% said they would commit suicide if they had the opportunity.
• Spring and fall are the months of highest risk.
• An estimated 80% of all those who commit suicide give some warning of their intentions or mention their feelings to a friend or family member.
• In 1996, more teenagers and young adults died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined.
• From 1980 to 1996, the rate of suicide among African-American males aged 15 to 19 years increased by 105 percent.
• For every two homicides in the U.S. there are three suicides.
• Having a firearm in the home greatly increases the risk of youth suicide. Sixty-four percent of suicide victims 10-24 years old use a firearm to complete the act.

Due to the stigma associated with suicide, available statistics may well underestimate the problem.