Suicide Stories Part 2: Solace Amid Sorrow
Although teen suicide attempts have declined gradually since the 1990s, death by suicide has risen 8 percent among teenagers, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, it's the third leading cause of death for teens between the ages of 15 and 19. While each suicide is a unique story, there is a common thread: More than 90 percent of teens who kill themselves show signs of major depression or another mental illness in the year prior to their deaths. Once treatment begins, however, the risk of suicide declines dramatically.
This three-part video series takes an inside look at the tragedy of teen depression and suicide -- and explores what parents, kids, communities, and mental health advocates can do to help prevent it.
Part 2: Solace Amid Sorrow
During the course of a year, a million high school students nationwide plan to commit suicide, and another 700,000 attempt it, according to a recent government study. In affluent Palo Alto, California five teens died by suicide at the same railroad crossing within a year's time, all of them students from or slated for the same high school. Find out how community members, school employees, students, and mental health advocates are coming together to halt further deaths -- and why access to mental health services is the most important step in suicide prevention.