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Adolescent Suicide. Internationally, Suicide Ranks Fourth

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Adolescent Suicide
Internationally, suicide ranks fourth among the major causes of adolescents’ deaths (Peltzer & Pengpid, 2015). Suicide ranks as the third major reason of adolescents’ deaths in the U.S. in addition to second in Europe (Shlosberg et al., 2014). In the United States, deaths of people among the ages of 10 and 24 are primarily related to auto accidents, accidental injuries, homicide, and suicide (accounting for 17%) (Shlosberg et al., 2014). The report also established that 14.6% of the students at the national level had prepared a plan to commit suicide (Kann et al., 2016). The rate for attempted suicide was at 8.6% (Kann et al., 2016). Although these adolescent suicide rates exist, the investigation of illegal drug use in …show more content…

According to Klonsky et al. (2016), it is difficult to predict suicidal behavior just as the comparison of findings and integration of knowledge across studies has been. Klonsky et al. (2016) further pointed out several factors associated with suicidal behavior such as depression, psychiatric disorders, and alcohol use and alcoholism. Suicide is considered a significant mental health problem for adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 (Hamilton & Klimes-Dougan, 2015). In the practical sense, it may be assumed that the cases of completed suicide are based on suicide ideation which essentially links it to a mental health condition that incorporates undesirable behaviors influenced by potential underlying causes (Hamilton & Klimes-Dougan, 2015). Suicide ideation exists in adolescents along a continuum that incorporates passive wishes or thoughts for death on one hand and intent and purposefully obtained means on the other hand (Klonsky et al., 2016). There are various risk factors including a history of illegal drug use and access to illicit drugs that lead to suicide ideation (Klonsky et al., 2016).
History of Illegal drug use
More than 25% of all suicide cases are attributed to illegal drug use (Poorolajal, Haghtalab, Farhadi, & Darvishi, 2015). Illegal drug use is a significant risk element associated with suicide in adolescents. Esposito-Smythers et al. (2012) argued that illegal drug use can increase aggression, heighten psychological distress, and inhibit

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