Teen Suicide Trends Still Alarming

Serious warnings on the risk of suicide for children taking anti-depressants may be limiting use of the drugs among adolescents and thus causing rising rates of teen suicides. Researchers from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh studied this situation and published a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently that was summarized in the Wall Street Journal of September 3, 2008 ("Elevated Rate Of Teen Suicide Stirs Concern"). A host of issues that also may be factors in the teen suicide rate include "alcohol use, access to firearms, the influence of Internet social networks and suicides among (teenaged) U.S. troops" according to one of the researchers.

Review selected library titles related to teen depression and suicide at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3218 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words to find more in the library catalog:

• depression adolescence
• stress adolescence
• suicidal behavior teenagers
• mental health teenagers
• adolescent psychology

Is Your Teen Stressed or Depressed?: A Practical and Inspirational Guide for Parents of Hurting Teens by Archibald D. Hart and Catherine Hart Weber - Thomas Nelson, 2008
call number: 248.845 Har

Suicide edited by Jacqueline Langwith - Greenhaven Press/Gale Cengage Learning, 2008
call number: 362.28 Sui
NOTE: several chapters related to whether teens are at risk for suicide

The Teen Whisperer: How to Break through the Silence and Secrecy of Teenage Life by Mike Linderman with Gary Brozek - Collins, 2007
call number: 649.154 Lin (NOTE: also a downloadable book in Adobe Acrobat format)

When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens by Bev Cobain and edited by Elizabeth Verdick - Free Spirit Publishing, 2007
call number: Young Adult Nonfiction 618.928 Cob

Will's Choice: A Suicidal Teen, a Desperate Mother, and a Chronicle of Recovery by Gail Griffith - Harper, 2006
call number: Young Adult Nonfiction 362.28 Gri