HHS HealthBeat (October 31, 2008)

Teen suicide

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

The latest data on teen suicides are giving experts like Jeffrey Bridge cause to worry. The researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, says teen suicides have reversed the steady decline they had been in.

``Suddenly, in 2004, we see the sharpest increase in the past 15 years, and it appears that it’s persisting into 2005.’’  (8 seconds)

The look at the numbers in the National Vital Statistics System was not set up to examine the possible causes for the spike. And those numbers can’t say what might be happening right now. But the researchers say the need to do something is clear. Bridge says this could include factors like access to alcohol and guns.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October, 31 2008