The Lancet Psychiatry
Worryingly, suicide is a leading cause of death in young people. This study aimed to find risk factors for suicide in children and young people under 20. The authors looked at a number of factors that may have influenced 130 children and young people in the UK to take their own lives. They also investigated whether the individuals had had contact with health, social care or justice agencies.
Some of the risk factors included previous self-harm, expressing suicidal thoughts or being under mental health services. There is also a low risk for children and young people who are bereaved, taking exams, witnessing domestic abuse, using drugs or who are facing online risk. The hope is that if families and services can be aware of these risks then some suicides may be able to be prevented.
Published by: Elsevier.
Read the whole article here: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30094-3/fulltext
The Lancet Psychiatry Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2016, Pages 751-759
Cathryn Rodway, Su-Gwan Tham, Saied Ibrahim, Pauline Turnbull, Kirsten Windfuhr, Jenny Shaw, Nav Kapur, Louis Appleby
