Suicide Outbreak Prompts CDC Assessment

type='html'>Community education and availability of mental health resources are called essential in efforts to limit suicidal behavior.

By Christopher White
Psychiatric News
Originally published September 21, 2012

In the first five months of this year, 11 young people completed suicide in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware, an increase from the yearly average of four in those aged 12 to 21 from 2009 to 2011.

Reflecting the state’s concern about this troubling development, the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct an epidemiological study to determine the rates of fatal and nonfatal suicide behaviors in the area, analyze risk factors, and recommend strategies to prevent future suicides.

Of the 11 decedents, four were students at the same high school, two were students at other local high schools, one was a student at a middle school, one had dropped out of high school, two had graduated from area high schools and were still living in Sussex County, and one was an adult with unknown education history.


The entire story is here.