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Description:
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Suicide is the third leading cause of death in youth ages10 to 24 (Centers for Disease Control , 2007 ) . Frequent thoughts of suicide are a strong predictor of suicide attempt (Kienhorst , de Wilde , Van den Bout , Diekstra , & Wolters , 1990 ) , and most suicide attempters report a history of suicidal ideation (Lewinsohn , Rohde , & Seeley , 1996 ) . Although suicidal ideation does not always intensify into suicidal behavior , a better understanding of suicidal ideation may lead to a greater understanding of suicidal behavior (Reuter , Holm , McGeorge , & Conger , 2008 ) .
It has been suggested that suicidality can be conceptualized as a spectrum , ranging from passive thoughts of death to death by suicide (Bridge , Goldstein , & Brent , 2006 ) . Mood disorders , including MDD , are the most common in suicide attempters and those who die by suicide (Bridge et al . , 2006 ; Kelly , Cornelius , & Lynch , 2002 ; Weissman et al . , 1999 ) , and hopelessness has consistently been implicated as being related to attempted suicide and death by suicide (Goldston et al . , 2001 ; Lewinsohn , Rohde , & Seeley , 1994 ; Shaffer et al . , 1996 ) . As up to 85 % of adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD ) or dysthymia report experiencing suicidal ideation (Kovacs , Goldston , & Gatsonis , 1993 ) , the co -occurrence of depression and suicidal ideation is high .
Therefore , it is important that interventions for depressed youth include strategies to manage suicidal ideation and behavior . In addition , it is important for clinicians to have an awareness of how higher levels of suicidal ideation might affect treatment in depressed youth . Thus , a better understanding of the course of suicidal ideation and behavior during early treatment and a better understanding of how depression treatment affect suicidality have important public health implications . |