More U.S. teen girls and young women, between 10 and 24 years old, are committing suicide each year, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Firearms, suffocation/hanging and poisoning, which includes drug overdose, are the three most common suicide mechanisms.
Among females the suicide rate hit 4.5 deaths per 100,000 by 2012, up from three per 100,000 in 1994. The suicide rate among young women, in the same timeframe, nearly quadrupled, hitting 1.7 from 0.5 in 1994.
Firearm-related suicide is most prevalent among males, states the research, while suffocation/hanging is most common with young females. The CDC research analyzed National Vital Statistics System data for an 18-year period, between 1994 and 2012.
"Clinicians, hotline workers, and other practitioners who are trained to assess suicide plans and to intervene with young persons should be aware of the increased use and high lethality of suffocation as a suicide method," states the report, published on the CDC website.
The research notes that suicide now stands as the second leading cause of death in the U.S. for those 10 through 24 years old. In 2012, there were 5,178 suicide-related deaths reported in that age group.
The study does not provide insight on what may be causing more young girls and teens to take their lives but it notes an increase among males, 10 through 24 years old, to commit suicide by suffocation or hanging.
"A person's first attempt may be their last attempt," said Dr. Eric Caine, director of the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. Caine was not a member of the report research team.
The study's authors say media coverage of suicide attempts and resulting deaths must follow guidelines to avoid hyping the risk for "suicide contagion," which researchers says can trigger suicide activity in vulnerable young women and men.
"Early prevention strategies are needed to reduce the likelihood of young persons developing suicidal thoughts and behavior," states the report.
The data is a prime concern, note the researchers, given that suffocation as a suicide approach has the highest lethal rate when compared to firearms and poisoning.
"Additional research (e.g., perceptions about hanging as a method of suicide) is needed to understand why suffocation suicide rates are increasing," note the authors.
