Clinical relevance: Childhood trauma disrupts stress hormone regulation and immune function, increasing adolescent suicide risk.
By Denis Storey, Psychiatrist.com, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack, February 25, 2025
Adolescent suicide rates have been climbing since the pandemic, and it persists as the leading cause of death among Americans between 5 and 24.
Recent research points a finger at “externalizing behaviors” and exposure to violence. As part of that, firearms deaths have been climbing.
“Suicide deaths are more prevalent among individuals who live in rural areas due in part to firearm access, isolation, and limited access to mental health services,” Victoria A. Joseph, MPH, Department of Epidemiology, at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, explains. “State-level variations of suicide rates are heavily driven by suicide deaths involving firearms.”
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