Teen Suicide Rate "Very Disturbing"

Experts Say There Is A Connection Between A Reduction In The Use Of Antidepressants And Suicide

(AP)  The number of teen suicides has fallen slightly, but the rate remains disturbingly high, possibly fueled by drug warnings that have scared many from using antidepressants.

The suicide rate was about 4.5 per 100,000 in 2005, the most recent data available. That follows an 18 percent spike the previous year that alarmed experts when first reported.

That's because until then, suicides among 10- to 19-year-olds had been on a steady decline since 1996.

Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont, said the report suggests a "very disturbing" upward trend that correlates with a decline in teen use of antidepressants.

That decline stems from the Food and Drug Administration's 2004 black-box warning label because of reports that the drugs can increase risks for suicidal tendencies.

Fassler, who wasn't involved in the new study, is among psychiatrists who believe the drugs' benefits, including treating depression that can lead to suicide, outweigh their risks. He said he has no financial ties to makers of antidepressants.

The new report shows the rate dropped by about 5 percent from 4.7 in 2004 - or from 1,983 suicides in 2004 to 1,883 in 2005.

That's still 600 more suicides than would have been expected had the earlier trend continued, said lead author Jeffrey Bridge, a researcher at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Patrick Tolan, director of the University of Illinois-Chicago's juvenile research institute, said it will be important to continue tracking teen suicides to see if the rate continues to decline or hovers at a higher than expected level.

Regardless, suicide remains a leading cause of teen deaths and "a major public health issue," he said.

[lovegetpeace]

A typical American''s teenage life is boring and sick without traditions. Teenages only escape is to take more narcotic drugs for the ''high'' and excitements. South America drug cartels are happy about this statistic.

[hypnotoad72]

So it''s not because they see the current economic conditions (macro and micro) and lack faith?

Don''t worry, I doubt that too. It probably DOES have more to do with taking too many drugs, but I doubt they''re all antidepressants...

Glad I didn''t do drugs as a kid. But then I was a nerd, geek, brainiac, et al... we''re not cool. :P

[gce65]

It also correlates with the height of the Bush administration and a very aggressive, militaristic stance towards the rest of the world.

Perhaps teens are less optimistic about the American dream or their opportunities.

[aspenkiss]

2/3 of the school shooters are on antidepressants and these pricks want more kids on them? It''s the constant barrage of "white guilt" that is making so many of them feel hopeless. New World Order wants zombies who are easily controlled, keep taking your meds, Goyim.

[sistatee-2009]

Lower the drinking age to 10, and legalize drugs. Then we won''t have all these depressed kids running around, they''ll be stoned instead.

[dmhphils]

Teenage, or any other kind of suicide, is a "spiritual" issue, not a brain disorder, and pumping drugs into the veins of teens is the worse thing that can happen.

But, nobody ever wants to recognize the spiritual realm of life, so go ahead and prescribe the pills.

[kurlikew]

Teens should NOT be using anti-depressants, so if the rate has declined, that''s a good thing. The answer is not in a pill. It does not address the underlying issues.

[lovesamerica]

how about the fact that most parents are divorced,grandparents are either trying to stay young and are out playing, or they need to work. How about lack of morals,the gay issues,drugs,too many toys,lack of responsibility,wacked ''idols'', parental worries about money,their own financial prediciments, lack of healthy family togetherness...and the list goes on...I myself have issues and I know they would have been even worse had I been growing up now.

[memerider]

I think anyone who is young and impressionable, and who sees the state the world is in, is grappling with issues they may not be able to mentally process themselves. Kids of the 1960s were similar--with all the assassinations, recognition of the lack of human rights afforded blacks and women, the never-declared Vietnam war, etc. They also started increasing use of drugs, and suicide was up.

People need to deal with the cognitive dissonance of cultural ethics, on the one hand, and Reality as it exists on the other. Drugs don''t fix this. Drugs just prevent one''s obsessive thoughts and/or artificially elevate mood temporarily.

It''s time to stop pushing drugs and start addressing the issues without the moralizing or indictments for not just dealing with it.

[wineberry]

Keeping kids on antidepressants alone and their head in a fog, making them think the world is peachy-keen and everything''s wonderful is not the answer. If only there was still such a thing as family togetherness, less peer pressure, more acceptance/tolerance, less bullying, more hope for a career and financial freedom, then perhaps teens would not see suicide as a way out. In its present state this world is in it''s a scary place where love, respect and affection have gone out the window. Young people look at this world and say "what kind of world is this, I don''t want to live here".

[memerider]

adt14, I''m with you on the DSM, friend. It''s full of descriptive categorizations based on votes by the mental health elite. Some of it is quite useful and based on science, but much may reflect potential bias, arbitrariness, and capriciousness.

[memerider]

Providence-7, I just don''t think religion is the answer to this one. Religion is a source of comfort and guidance for many, but it''s time for something more, that draws on modern science as well. We have learned a great deal about how what we think shapes our action, and it''s time to start focusing on how thought itself creates attitudes and decisions. Of course, these can be used inside or outside a religious environment.

I think it''s time to stop drugging our citizens to make them docile and malleable and step into uncharted waters that promise great return on such investments.

[memerider]

noseonurface, I agree with that it''s "spiritual," and I don''t think spirit has anything to do with "religion." I think it stands on its own, and is as available to atheists as it is to the faithful. There is something about what we call "spirit" that is universal, timeless, and not about dogma, indoctrination, or the supernatural. It is something natural, available to everyone.

[goosfraba2]

Posted by aspenkiss at 08:13 PM : Sep 02, 2008: "... keep taking your meds, Goyim."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Goyim

[drinuk]

For this idiot to state that kids are committing suicide because they are NOT taking antidepressants is downright wicked and he is obviously yet another member of the medical profession working for Big Pharma.

It is likely to be another prescribed drug thay are taking which is causing the problem in the first place, that or junk like Aspartame. Before pushing Big Pharma poisons to our kids maybe Fassler should do a little research into the real causes and not be so quick to peddle antidepressant junk.

[drinuk]

Cont. Taking all things into consideration, people like Fassler are no better or worse than the guy who peddles Crack on the street corner. We should as a nation be weaning our youth of every type of drug and chemical, not encouraging them to take more. 99% of ''em need a detox never mind filling them up with "Have a Nice Day Pills"

[loyalto1]

I grew up in the 1970''s life was more fun and free.
I could walk the streets without fear. Nowdays danger is everywhere and that takes away your freedom and happiness. the 1970''s we listened to love songs and todays music is violence lyrics. Todays world is being molded by Rap and Violent movies and don''t forget the followers who won''t turn their backs on this trend!

[vechible]

'' .. nobody hunts you because you are a cog, if something happens to you, they replace you with another fool just like you, alas if you should do anything outside regulation to any of us, they will tear you limb from limb, so go frame yourself or something, before somebody else does .. ''

'' .. relatively few trespass or steal even for necesity, relatively many use drugs, relatively few keep an eye on any particular property, relatively many keep an eye on any particular drug uset, dope fiends are running circles around governments and neighborhood zealots despite all the war on drugs, in many ways because of the war on drugs, and to such an extent that if even a small number of dopeheads were into executing and or jailing governments and zealots: then the governments and zealots would all be dead or in hell .. ''

[hbevis]

'''' .. oh no, another burglary, another homicide, quick hurry everyone, this is a call to action, we need more trillions of dollars of nuclear biological chemical steath ray pow dare camp shock and awe armagedon holy holocaust extravaganza before it''''s too late, and all our precious beloved children are running around blooming bouquets of free food and medicine and gravity driven sponge buses and sexxx toys at all the street cornets and trail crossings rallyd and partyd round the sick beds what swim and drift spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail group subsistence farms like a bunch of ragged transient lazy naked lusty dopey kid subsistence farmets dancing get well feed world get sick tax world hike naked dance dressed hike dressed dance naked porn songs and shifting shapes and toggling virtual and realtime and traveling eternitys at speeds of thoughts as if forever is some giant dance and play musical epic quest to cure common mortal deaths and common immortal lifes forever and ever and ever in the midst of some great and endless eternity where the big infinite oblivion used to be before there was us .. ''''

Posted by vechibles at 10:59 PM : Sep 02, 2008

POST LIKE THIS ARE STUPID AND SHOULD BE BANNED BY CBS

[legacyabq]

Is it any surprise? We live in an ugly age, devoid of integrity or introspection. Kids nurse cell phones for adolescent nurturement and sustanence, and find that modern society offers little meaning other than "consume and buy useless junk"! or: Reverberate messages of no consequence through your technology to each other, about buying/consuming said junk! Listen to insipid urban music with no theme other than "buy junk and conform" (to strict social- definitions/dress/thinking)! No wonder they''re commiting suicide: what in Gods name are we offering them? Total ***. Progress and modernity have brought us nothing but emptiness and disillusionment. Where''s the culture? Where''s the oppurtunity for happiness when no adult can tell them that they themselves are happy?

[sistatee-2009]

I grew up in the 1970''''s life was more fun and free.
I could walk the streets without fear. Nowdays danger is everywhere and that takes away your freedom and happiness.
Posted by Loyalto1 at 10:30 PM : Sep 02, 2008

Not mine. I fight fire with fire. Got me a concealed carry permit, and you better believe I carry. I go wherever I want, anytime I want. I''m happy as can be. Too bad you''ve let the thugs destroy your freedom and happiness. It''s a personal choice. I wish you the best, cause I know how you feel.

[wineberry]

This country is known as the "melting pot of the world", and even though it''s good in some ways with all the diverse ethnicities and religions, we have lost custom and culture along the way I think. Like a lot of other countries have long-standing traditions and customs and people have strong ethnic backgrounds, but here nearly everyone is mixed up with a little of this and a little of that, etc. That''s what makes up an American. The only real customs we share with the rest of the world is Christmas and New Years, and while those are wonderful customs (Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year), is there any real traditional values in this country? This may also be what American teens are missing in this country and they have a feeling of hodge-podge blues.

*** the side effects, just keep poisoning our society with drugs for profit. It is Big Pharma''s dream.

[nextgenman]

Experts working PR campaigns for drug companies say.....

[welshwoman-2009]

Once again, mental illness rules in this country and no one wants to stay married and raise their children together to be responsible grown ups who are mentally healthy. It takes a while to get suicidal and a lot of people can do something about it and don''t. Are you one of them? Does alcoholism, drug addiction or mental illness run in your family or inner circle? What do you do about it?

[jmurrieta1]

Not mine. I fight fire with fire. Got me a concealed carry permit, and you better believe I carry. I go wherever I want, anytime I want. I''''m happy as can be. Too bad you''''ve let the thugs destroy your freedom and happiness. It''''s a personal choice. I wish you the best, cause I know how you feel.


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Posted by SistaTee



And if someone crosses you, you can just gun down everyone in the neighborhood, like the Washington state nutcase?

That must be gratifying!

[johnpatrick9]

We live in a society that is materialistic and full of ego and arrogance...not a very welcoming place nor one that is very comforting....high suicide rate and a high prison population along with high divorce and use of tranquilizers...."wheee, USA USA USA"

[gop_forever]

Its the loser people who have children. They should just be sterilized for Gods sake.

[payasyougo]

"Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont, said the report suggests a "very disturbing" upward trend that correlates with a decline in teen use of antidepressants."
----

It also correlates with the number of news articles slamming conservatism, stay at home moms and our troops abroad.

But then, my conclusions could be all wrong.

[ephd]

2/3 of the school shooters are on antidepressants and these pricks want more kids on them? It''''s the constant barrage of "white guilt" that is making so many of them feel hopeless. New World Order wants zombies who are easily controlled, keep taking your meds, Goyim.

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Posted by aspenkiss at 08:13 PM : Sep 02, 2008

You are a true ignoramus, aspenkiss. For many reasons.
First, if anything, medications would make it harder for the "New World Order" to control people. Prior to the advent of antipsychotics in the 1950''s, the mentally ill were warehoused in large institutions where they were chained to beds and never saw the light of day. The new anti-psychotics, by controlling symptoms, allowed for what came to be known as de-institutionalization (e.g, see http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Deinstitutionalization.html
or just do a google search) Thus, the "world order" had less controll over people as even these "out the the box" type people now could return to communities and vote etc.. some mind control!
Also, your addition of Goyim, at the end of your post, is perhaps meant to imply that the Jews are involved or those scary "zionists"? If so, you are truly an idiot par excellance.

[docpeter-2009]

Its the loser people who have children. They should just be sterilized for Gods sake.

Posted by GOP_forever at 08:40 AM : Sep 03, 2008
____________
So much love and Christian compassion?

[drinuk]

WOW! the guy has a PHD in psychiatry, he is an expert, is not working for Big Pharma and not doing much to help our kids either.

Peddling "Have a Nice Day" pills is hardly a responsible alternative to getting all our youth off noxious substances. Go away Doctor, our kids need you like a hole in the head.

[observer2020]

Its the loser people who have children. They should just be sterilized for Gods sake.
Posted by GOP_forever

Such a wonderful Christian comment. I know of at least one poster that should not have the 4 children they do have.

They have come up with so many names of mental maladays just so they can make up more useless pills to prescribe for tons of money. Although there''s a poster that needs to up their meds. :) or lose the computer.

[ephd]

WOW! the guy has a PHD in psychiatry, he is an expert, is not working for Big Pharma and not doing much to help our kids either.

Peddling "Have a Nice Day" pills is hardly a responsible alternative to getting all our youth off noxious substances. Go away Doctor, our kids need you like a hole in the head.


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Posted by drinuk

This is completely beside the point, but for the record, psychiatrists have M.D.''s they are medical doctors. Sometimes they have D.Os (doctor of osteopathy or somthing similar). Pharmocologists can have Ph.D.''s, as to psychologists (who may also have Psy.D.''s).

[hypnotoad72]

Its the loser people who have children. They should just be sterilized for Gods sake.

Posted by GOP_forever at 08:40 AM : Sep 03, 2008


How many children do you have?

[beehive21-2009]

If the teens want to commit suicide,let us put them in combat,they can serve the country and kill some Evil Doers.

[LIBNY PINEDA G]

One of the things we could do about this problem is to become better parents, more loving parents and at the same time helping our children to learn good behavior. There is so much hatred and violence in our society today. We cannot expect our kids to face a future with hope and security unless a moral change comes.