Therapy for Suicidal Teenagers Not As Effective As Believed

A majority of troubled adolescents received treatment before attempting suicide

Teenagers who are seeing counselors for bouts of depression and other psychological disorders aren’t getting as much out of it as loved ones and communities hope they are. A new study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that 55 percent of suicidal teens had received some therapy before they thought about suicide, planned it or tried to kill themselves. The findings contradict a widely held belief that suicide is due to a lack of treatment. The study was based on nationwide interviews with more than 6,000 teenagers and at least one parent of each. Researchers linked suicidal behavior to a combination of mood disorders, behavioral problems, and alcohol and drug abuse. One in eight teens in the study had persistent suicidal thoughts at some point in their young lives, and about a third of them made a suicide attempt within a year of having the idea. This is the largest nationwide study of suicide in teens and supports similar findings in small, regional samplings. (New York Times)

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