The suicide rate for teens has risen dramatically over the past decade, and research shows that girls and students who identify as LGBTQ+ are at greater risk.
Any suicidal threat should be taken very seriously. Trust your intuition and if you are concerned, seek help immediately. Symptoms include: Changes in eating or sleeping patterns; Talking about death, suicide, or dying.
Depression
Depression is a risk factor for suicide and can be exacerbated by other factors such as alcohol or drug abuse. Some traumatic injuries and abuse may also include depressive symptoms as part of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Teens with severe depression or suicidal thoughts should be assessed in the emergency department to ensure their safety. This can include a physical exam and a psychiatric evaluation. If necessary, they will be admitted to a mental health facility until they are safe and stable.
Protective factors, such as positive family relationships and social support networks have been shown to decrease the risk of negative outcomes like suicide. Future research is needed to explore additional protective factors among youths. Especially for female students and those who identify as LGBQ+, these factors could help reduce disparities in suicide risk indicators.
Alcohol or drug abuse
Many researchers have found that drug and alcohol use can affect a youth’s suicide risk. However, research does not always establish a causal relationship between substance abuse and suicidal behavior.
Alcohol and other drugs can cause a variety of problems for youth, including social isolation, low self-esteem, loss of jobs or schooling, financial difficulties and family discord. These factors can build a core of stress that contributes to suicide thoughts and actions.
Chronic drug use and dependency is associated with a higher suicide risk by intensifying psychosocial stressors, increasing impulsiveness and decreasing inhibitions. In addition, certain drugs may have adverse physical consequences that increase suicide risk. For example, long-term opioid use can lead to tolerance and changes in brain circuitry that affect negative emotional reactivity and motivation [164]. This increased sensitivity can increase the risk of suicide attempts and increases the lethality of suicide methods.
Relationships
Many teens who think of suicide feel misunderstood, alone, or devalued by the people around them. They may try to reassure others by saying, “I’m not going anywhere.” But it is important to take any threat of suicide seriously.
Research led by Lynn Fullerton and colleagues from the University of New Mexico suggests that positive relationships with adults can buffer the risk of suicide attempts. They analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and found that overall connectedness and specific domains of connection (e.g., family, school, and peer connections) acted as protective factors against suicide attempts for adolescents.
Interestingly, these effects were less strong among adolescents who had elevated suicidal ideation or history of suicide behaviors. This could be because these adolescents have more difficulty finding supportive adults to connect with.
Family issues
A teen’s home environment can be a significant factor in suicide. A history of trauma or abuse, separation from loved ones due to death, divorce, deployment, incarceration or abandonment can have serious consequences for kids’ mental health.
One study found that family dysfunction is associated with suicide in teens who self-harm. A structural equation model (SEM) showed that family function, subjective well-being and depression are sequential mediators of the relationship between family dysfunction and suicidal behavior in teens who self-harm.
Cha and her team have been experimenting with a technique called future thinking, which encourages teens to imagine details about their future that are realistic and believable. They hope that this will help them feel hopeful and able to cope with adversity in the present.
Mental health disorders
The teen years are often a time of major emotional changes and stress. These stresses may trigger mental health problems such as anxiety or depression. These disorders can interfere with a teen’s ability to function and affect how they think and feel.
Previous research has documented disparities in mental health outcomes and suicide risk indicators by gender, sex, and ethnicity. For example, data from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) show that girls report more persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and more suicide risk indicators than boys (1).
A cross-sectional study using YRBS data examined the association between documentation of a preceding mental health diagnosis and sociodemographic characteristics, precipitating circumstances, and suicide mechanism among youth who died by firearm. The odds of having a documented mental health diagnosis were lower among racially and ethnically minority youths than White youths, and was particularly low for those who used firearms in their suicide.