Suicide and Youth: Risk Factors and Prevention

Abstract

The current study is aimed at putting the light on the suicide, its prevention strategies and crisis management. Mental health is an indivisible part of public health and significantly affects countries and their human, social and economic capital. Mental health is not merely the absence of mental disorders or symptoms but also a resource supporting overall well-being and productivity. Positive mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and can contribute to his or her community. This mini review gives a short overview of the most important risk factors for late school-age children and adolescents, as established by scientific research in this domain. Key risk factors found were: mental disorders, previous suicide attempts, specific personality characteristics, genetic loading and family processes in combination with triggering psychosocial stressors, exposure to inspiring models and availability of means of committing suicide. Further unravelling and knowledge of the complex interplay of these factors is highly relevant with regard to the development of effective prevention strategy plans for youth suicide. This mental capital is vitally important for the healthy functioning of families, communities and society. Suicide is a complex human behavior with multiple interacting determinants. Clinicians and practitioners often face difficulties in assimilating the evidence base for suicide prevention interventions, evaluating their effectiveness and decoding the best practice elements of each approach. In this article, we do not aim to provide an exhaustive coverage of every approach. Although a number of approaches hold promise, there are difficulties in ascertaining the effective elements under each of them. Innovative research designs are needed to address this knowledge gap as it will facilitate optimal allocation of resources for suicide prevention.