Suicide in Adolescence

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-VIII

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • René F. W. Diekstra, Keith Hawton

      Pages 1-3

3. Trends and factors

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5

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   2. Suicidal behaviour among adolescents: an overview

      • René F. W. Diekstra, Ben J. M. Moritz

      Pages 7-24

4. The suicide of an adolescent girl

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-26

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   2. Renée: Chronicle of a misspent life

      • René F. W. Diekstra

      Pages 27-41

   3. Renée or the complex psychodynamics of adolescent suicide

      • René F. W. Diekstra

      Pages 43-75

5. Assessment and treatment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-78

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   2. Assessment and aftercare of adolescents who take overdoses

      • Keith Hawton

      Pages 79-93

   3. Family therapy and psychotherapy following suicidal behaviour by young adolescents

      • Michael Kerfoot

      Pages 95-111

   4. Assessment of suicidal behaviour in young children: case demonstrations

      • Israel Orbach

      Pages 113-123

6. Family and suicide

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-126

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   2. Families of suicidal children

      • Cynthia R. Pfeffer

      Pages 127-137

   3. The role of the family in suicide

      • Norman L. Farberow

      Pages 139-152

7. School and suicide

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-154

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   2. School and suicide: education for life and death

      • Charlotte P. Ross

      Pages 155-172

   3. “ASAP” — an adolescent suicide awareness programme

      • Diane M. Ryerson

      Pages 173-190

8. Back Matter

   Pages 191-196

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The official death rates from suicide vary considerably between countries in the world for which data are available. They range from 3 to 45 persons a year, per 100,000 of population. Historically, the higher rates of suicide are in the older age groups and in males. However, the general trend in the last twenty years has been for suicide increasing in the younger age groups (15-34) and in femah;s. It has been suggested that thi~ development is related to the phenomenon of attempted suicide, of which the rates in most industrialized countries have doubled and in some countries even tripled over the past two decades. The average rate of attempted suicide is now estimated to be around 200 per 100,000 for males and 350 for females. Almost two-thirds of these occur before the age of thirty. Although the majority of attempted suicide are not intended to be lethal, once a suicide attempt has been made, there is more likelihood of subsequent death by suicide. As many as ten percent of people who have made a previous unsuccessful attempt commit suicide at a later stage in their lives. rersons with increased likelihood to commit suicide are youngsters from disrupted families and from families with a history of suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, those who have failed at school, the unemployed and those suffering from depression.

• assessment
• depression
• psychodynamics
• psychotherapy
• suicide
• therapy

`... a stimulating and helpful book ...'
The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 33 (1988)
`Overall the book is sufficiently rigorous, though non-mystifying in its description of psychodynamic concepts and treatment. It provides a useful introduction to modern psychiatric concepts relevant to the assessment and treatment of adolescents for colleagues in paediatrics, general medicine, general practice, social and youth work, and education and for students from a variety of disciplines.'
British Medical Journal, 295 (1987)

• University of Leiden, The Netherlands

  René F. W. Diekstra

• Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK

  Keith Hawton

• University of Oxford, UK

  Keith Hawton

Policies and ethics