Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents

Abstract

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people between ages of 10 to 24 years, with about 4400 lives lost each year. Prevalence of suicidal ideation is usually found to at an alarming rate among adolescents. Vijaykumar, 2007, suggested that failure in examination, anticipated punishment, physical illness, potentially self-injurious action with a non-fatal outcome and impending loss love are the major risk factors. Adolescent suicide is generally categorized as someone below age 21, deliberately ends their own life. The majority of suicides (37.8%) in India are by those below the age of 30 years. The fact that 71% of suicides in India are by persons below the age of 44 years imposes a huge social, emotional and economic burden on our society.