A number of mental health problems increase the risk of child and adolescent suicide, according to new research from the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO researchers looked at which mental disorders or combinations of disorders are most responsible for youth suicide in a study published in the October 2005 issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, published by the American Psychological Association.
Researchers from the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland and from the Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand reviewed articles published in English from 1982 to 2001 to re-examine the occurrence and distribution of mental disorders in 894 cases of completed suicides among young people worldwide. 89 percent of the cases had at least one diagnosis of a mental disorder. Mood disorders (including major and minor depressive disorder, dysthymia, mania, hypomania, bipolar disorder and non-specific mood disorders) were the most frequently diagnosed (42 percent) followed by substance-related disorders (40 percent) and then disruptive behavior disorders (including conduct disorder, attention deficit disorder, oppositional disorder and identity disorder - 20 percent).
72 percent of subjects were under 20 years of age, 12 percent were between the ages of 20 - 29 and 15.5 percent were 15-29 years old. The studies originated mostly from Europe and North America.
It's clear from this study that we need to look beyond depression when assessing suicide risk in children and adolescents. Young people who kill themselves often have been diagnosed and treated by mental health professionals. They are often, but not always, depressed.
Reference: “Completed Suicide and Psychiatric Diagnoses in Young People: A Critical Examination of the Evidence,” Alexandra Fleischmann, PhD, Jose Manoel Bertolote, MD, and Myron Belfar, MD, World Health Organization; Annette Beautrais, PhD, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand; American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 75, No. 4.
