Adolescent Suicide and Attempted Suicide

Violence is by far the most common cause of death in young people. This may take the form of suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle accidents. Different countries have different rates of each of these phenomena; in most countries suicide rates are higher than homicide rates, and in many industrialized nations the number of young people dying from suicide is higher than the number of fatalities from road accidents. Although there has been a decrease in fatal suicide among young people in the West, perhaps due to increasingly effective prevention measures, youth suicide continues to pose a major public health problem, as among young people aged 15-29 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death globally. This chapter includes suicide risk factors, treatment and prevention for adolescent suicide