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A Look Into Substance Use And Its Effects On Suicidality African American Boys Essay

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Running head: HIDDEN SECRETS 1

HIDDEN SECRETS 2

Hidden Secrets:
A look into Substance Use and Its Effects on Suicidality in African-American Boys
Cashell Lewis
George Warren Brown School of Social Work
Washington University in St. Louis

Introduction
Suicide has become a major issue in Black adolescents. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Black boys age 13 to 17 (CDC, 2014). That surpasses the number of deaths due to chronic diseases such as cancer, HIV and diabetes (CDC, 2014.). Additionally, CDC reports show that in 2014 there were 68 adolescents that completed suicide and 1131 reported attempts (CDC, 2014). This is a significant number, although not all suicide attempts are reported (Joiner, 2015). Furthermore, suicide accounted for 10 percent of deaths of adolescents in 2014 (CDC, 2014).
While the loss of life is significant there are other cost associated with suicide. The average medical cost associated with suicides is $5,518 per person (CDC, 2010, National Vital Statistics System). In addition to medical cost, the average work loss, cost is $1,684,460 (CDC, 2010, National Vital Statistics System). While medical and loss of work cost are very important they only take into account the numbers associated with the individual who commits suicide. It does not factor in other cost related to love ones, such as their emotional cost or toll suicides takes on the surviving family. This is why identifying the factors related to suicide is

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