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something not being mentioned as a possible cause

redrobin

Well-known member
Saying guns are the cause of the boy killing all the kindergarteners is just moronic. It'd be like saying the fuel of choice wrecked the car. Moronic.


youth Suicide and Divorce/ Single parent Homes:

"In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims,
teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to
commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological
disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families."
Source: David A. Brent, (et. al.) "Post-traumatic STress Disorders in
Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and
Phenomenology." Journal of the AMerican Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry 34 (1995): 209-215.

"Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide."
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center
for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, D.C., 1993.

"Three out of four teenage suicides occur in households where a parent
has been absent."
Source: Jean Beth Eshtain, "Family Matters: The Plight of America's
Children." The Christian Century (July 1993): 14-21.

"A family structure index - a composite index based on the annual rate
of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with
children present that are female-headed - is a strong predictor of
suicide among young adult and adolescent white males."
Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, "Trends in White Male
Adolescent, Young-Adult, and Elderly Suicide: Are Ther Common Underlying
Structural Factors?" Social Science Research 23 (1994): 57-81
 

redrobin

Well-known member
Here's another one.

"All Truth passes through Three Stages: First, it is Ridiculed...
Second, it is Violently Opposed...
Third, it is Accepted as being Self-Evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer (1778-1860)


www.AntidepressantsFacts.com -Archive


All Truth passes through Three Stages: First, it is Ridiculed. Second, it is Violently Opposed... Third, it is Accepted as being Self-Evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer (1778-1860) Posted by Charly Groenendijk (ADF)
The Netherlands
Jan 26, 2005


Suicide rates have doubled for children of 5-14 years old over the past 20 years!

Suicide rates doubled for children of 5-14 years old over the past 20 years! Research by James W. Prescott, Ph.D.
For youth age 15-24 suicide has been the third leading cause of death for well over a generation. Last year 15 million prescriptions were written for (SSRI) antidepressants for children and teenagers. Suicide rates have now DOUBLED for children of 5-14 years old in the past generation...
Suicide is the third highest cause of death among teenagers age 15-24. Suicide rates have doubled for children of 5-14 years old in the past generation. Last year 15 million prescriptions were written for (SSRI) antidepressants for children and teenagers.

Recently the (FDA) acknowledged an increased suicide risk associate with children taking (SSRI) antidepressants. The mental health of our children is worse off today than it was 50 years ago. But for years the National Institute of Health (NIH) has been following a biomedical model that seeks a drug to solve every problem. It's clearly been a massive failure.

Dr. James W. Prescott, past Health Scientist Administrator of the Development Behavioral Biology Program of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH) says "Clearly something is wrong in our culture when our children and teens are driven into suicide, despair, and [legal] drug addiction. The NIH and America are not asking the important question: "Where is all of this coming from and what can we do to prevent it?"

AMERICA'S LOST DREAM: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
By James W. Prescott, Ph.D.
(http://www.violence.de/prescott/appp/ald.pdf)

V. Depression and Suicide in Children and Youth of America
Depression and suicide are of epidemic proportions in America. Suicide has been the third leading cause of death in the youth age group of 15-24 years for the past generation (1979-1997) and is the fifth and sixth leading cause of death in the 5-14 year age group for the years 1979 and 1997, respectively. Tables 2 & 3 show that the suicide rates have doubled in the 5-14 year age group from 1979-1997. Table 4 gives the number of suicidal and homicidal deaths for the years 1979, 1994 and 1998 for the age groups of 1-4 years; 5-14 years and 15-24 years. The total number of suicidal deaths in these age groups for the years 1979, 1994 and 1998 are 5,398; 5,274 and 4,321, respectively. This represents an average of 4,999 suicide deaths per year for these years.

Given the average of 5,000 suicidal deaths per year, the estimated total number of suicidal deaths in these age groups from 1979-2000 is 105,000 children and youth who have committed suicide over this past generation. More children and youth (ages 5-24 years) have committed suicide in the past ten years than the total number of American combat lives lost in the ten year Vietnam War (est. 55,000 v 47,355), yet little or no public attention has been given to this reality and what it represents.

There are an estimated 60,828 suicides in the 25-44 year age group for the five years from 1994-1998 (12,166x5=60,828), an estimated total of 121,656 American lives lost to suicide for ten years in this age group that is more than double all the American lives lost in the ten year Vietnam War.

Table 5 gives the suicide rates as a percent of the homicide rates for these specific age groups and for the years 1979, 1994 and 1998. For the 5-14 year old age group, suicide rates, as a percent of homicide rates, have systematically increased from 1979 to 1998, as follows: 1979:36%; 1994: 60 %; 1998:73 %.

Suicidal death, relative to homicidal death, has dramatically increased for our children and youth in the 5- 14 year age group from 1979-1998. The question that remains unanswered is why do our children and youth prefer suicidal death to living in America, presumably the healthiest, wealthiest, and greatest nation of the world? Clearly, these dramatic increases in suicide rates over a single generation cannot be attributed to any changes in the human gene pool.

These statistics indicate that America is an unsafe nation to rear its children and this conclusion is also supported by the epidemic of depression that afflicts our children and youth, as evidenced by their massive psychiatric medication (Zito, et.al, 2000). Some 1.5 million prescriptions of the anti-depressant class of drugs called the serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SRIs, e.g., Prozac) are given annually to children and youth and some 3 million prescriptions of Ritalin are prescribed annually. The problem of underestimating child/youth suicides in our society is as real as it is for child abuse homicides, previously cited (Herman-Giddens, et.al, 1999), where they found that child abuse homicides were underascertained by 62%. It is reasonable to project a similar or larger underestimation of suicidal deaths, given the higher societal and family shame and guilt that is associated with suicidal death, particularly of children and youth. Undoubtedly, many suicidal deaths are hidden in the accidental death statistics and are a greater problem than the current statistics indicate.

The pioneering study of Salk, et al (1985) found prenatal and perinatal stress factors in 81% of teen suicides that represented a 400% increased risk of suicide compared to the control subjects. The studies of the Jacobson group in Sweden also documented the role of perinatal trauma and obstetric medications on later adult behaviors of suicide, homicide and drug addictive behaviors, where increased risks for some of these behaviors was as high as 500% compared to control groups (Jacobson, et al, 1987,1988, 1990, 1998/ 2000). The study of Raine, et al (1994) found birth complications and maternal rejection predicting violent crime at 18 years of age, which adds additional evidence that prenatal/perinatal trauma contributes to adult behavioral disorders. The report of Levy (1945) that the trauma of circumcision can lead to homicidal and suicidal emotional states should not be neglected in the overall assessment of prenatal, perinatal and postnatal factors that contribute to child, teen and adult emotional-behavioral disorders.

VI. Psychiatric Medications of the Children and Youth of America.
Breggin (1994, 1995, 1998) has warned America about the effects of a Toxic Psychiatry upon the children and youth of America, which have gone unheeded. The psychiatric drugging of the children, youth and adults of America have become worse where there is little or no questions being asked by the psychiatric-political establishment as to why are all these psychiatric drugs are necessary. Breggin (2000) provides a framework for the prevention of the psychiatric drugging of the children and youth of America and a path to follow, if natural happiness is to become a reality, which is the true prevention of depression and violence.

Zito, et al (2000) have reviewed the prevalence of psychotropic medication use in children and youth; and in preschool-aged children from 1991-1995 from two state Medicaid programs and an HMO. They reported: The prevalence of psychotropic medication treatment for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders has significantly increased in the United States during the last few decades, particularly in the last 15 years. Specifically the 5 through 14-yearold age group has experienced a great increase in stimulant treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHS), and the 15 through 19 -year- old age group has had sizable increases in the use of antidepressant medications (pp.1-2)... The rate of psychotropic medication prescribed for preschoolers in the MWM program increased substantially from 1991-1995. The increase was greatest for clonidine (28.2-fold), stimulants (3.0-fold), and antidepressants (2.2-fold). By contrast, neuroleptic use did not increase substantially during this time (p.4)... Methylphenidate (Ritalin) use according to age group in children and adolescents in the MWM program was most prominent for those aged 5-14 years... The largest methylphenidate increase (311%) was among 15 through19- year olds, whereas the 2 through 4- year-olds, like the 5-through 14 -year-olds, had a smaller but still substantial increase (169% to 176%) (pp.4-5)...

Several prominent trends characterized the use of psychotropic medications in preschoolers during the early to mid 1990s. Overall, there were large increases for all study medications (except the neuroleptics) and considerable variation according to gender, age, geographic region, and health care system. These findings are remarkable in light of the limited knowledge base that underlies psychotropic medication use in very young children. Controlled clinical studies to evaluate the efficacy and safety of psychotropic medications for preschoolers are rare. Efficacy data are essentially lacking for clonidine and the SSRIs and methylphenidate's adverse effects for preschool children are more pronounced than for older youths. Consequently, the vast majority of psychotropic medications prescribed for preschoolers are being used offlabel. (P.5).

Recall that this 5-14 year age group showed a doubling of suicide rates over the past twenty years (supra).
 

redrobin

Well-known member
Alcohol and Drug Use Increases Suicidal Behaviors

"Suicidal behavior among college students is lower where the price of beer is higher."

Each year more American young people die from suicide than from all other leading natural causes of death combined. In 1997, a sobering 13 percent of deaths among 15 to 24 year olds were the result of suicide. Survey data suggest that between 12 and 25 percent of school age youth consider suicide or make plans to commit suicide. Furthermore, the rate of youth suicide is on an upward path, tripling between 1950 and 1990.

Previous research documents a strong link between drug and alcohol abuse and suicidal behavior. But according to Sara Markowitz, Pinka Chatterji, Robert Kaestner, and Dhaval Dave writing in Substance Use and Suicidal Behaviors Among Young Adults (NBER Working Paper No. 8810), that research does not establish that substance abuse has a causal role in youth's suicide thoughts or actions. Substance abuse can cause social isolation, low self esteem, loss of work or school, estrangement from family and friends - all events that can build a core of stresses that may lead to suicidal tendencies. Substance abuse also can increase impulsiveness and decrease inhibitions, making one more likely to act on suicidal tendencies. But the earlier studies did not adequately explore the effects of other major influences on suicidal behavior, namely depression and other psychiatric problems, nor the idea that suicidal tendencies actually may spur the drinking and drug abuse.

In this paper, the authors conjecture that if substance use causes suicidal behavior, then policies designed to reduce the consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs may succeed in reducing suicidal behaviors. The researchers attempt to uncover the role of alcohol and drug consumption in determining suicidal thoughts and attempts among college age students. Data for their study come from the University of Southern Illinois's Core Institute, which conducts annual surveys of college students, focusing on drinking and drug use. The survey covered approximately 30,000 students in 1991 at both private and public colleges across the United States. The analysis was limited to respondents between the ages of 17 and 24.

Students were asked how often in the past year they "seriously thought about suicide" or "seriously tried to commit suicide" because of alcohol or drug use. Students were also asked about the number of drinks they consumed in a week, if they were binge drinkers (categorized as five or more drinks in a sitting in the past two weeks), and if they used marijuana or any illegal drugs in the past year. Extensive socioeconomic and demographic information was gathered: gender, age, college class year, grade point average, race, marital status, employment status, campus living arrangement, and parental history of alcohol and drug problems. The Core survey did not measure psychiatric disorders, the most important link between substance abuse and suicidal tendencies. However, the study includes information about students' smoking, which has been shown to be a correlate of psychiatric disorders and other substance use.

The results show that students who drink or use drugs are much more likely to have suicidal tendencies than those who do not use substances. For example, 8.15 percent of binge drinkers have thought about committing suicide and 2.34 percent report attempting suicide. Similar comparisons hold for students who drink at all, who use marijuana, and who use other illegal drugs. Only 2.34 percent of non-drinkers have thought about committing suicide with only .78 percent attempting suicide. Markowitz and her co-authors contend, "It is important to note that these results establish a correlation between substance use and suicidal behaviors, but do not address the issue of causality."

The authors also estimate a model that relies on factors that are believed to be correlated with substance use but not suicidal behaviors (such as the price of beer and living arrangements) to test the nature of this association. The results are consistent with a causal relationship from alcohol and illicit drug consumption to suicidal behaviors. Many of the student characteristics are also important determinants of suicidal behaviors. Being older and having a higher grade point average both reduce the probability of suicidal thoughts and attempts, while being female increases these probabilities. Part-time students are more likely to engage in suicidal thoughts and attempts. Being married lowers the probability of suicidal thoughts, while being divorced increases both thoughts and attempts.

Using a similar model that centers on the beer price, the authors find that suicidal behavior among college students is lower where the price of beer is higher. Furthermore, students living on campus are found to be more likely to engage in suicidal behaviors because of their higher drug and alcohol use than those living off campus.

In conclusion, the authors suggest that alcohol and drug use increases the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and attempts. Therefore, policies designed to prevent substance abuse may also prevent suicidal behaviors among college students. According to the authors, "This research is a first step towards expanding policymakers' ability to prevent suicidal behaviors, and their tragic consequences, among college students."

-- Marie Bussing-Burks
 
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