Overview of the public health approach to youth suicide prevention

Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States accounting for a significant amount of morbidity and mortality. In 2005 there were over 32,000 suicides in the U.S., making it the 11th leading cause of death overall and the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15-34 years. The total health burden associated with suicide extends well beyond deaths. In 2005, nearly 400,000 people were treated in U.S. emergency departments for nonfatal self-inflicted injuries. Suicides and nonfatal suicidal behavior result in over $33 billion in medical and productivity losses each year in the U.S. The public health approach to suicide prevention used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an important complement to the treatment of mental illness to reduce suicide risk. The public health approach emphasizes primary prevention at the population level through the use of cross-cutting perspectives and rigorous science. This presentation will provide examples from each of the four steps in the public health approach to youth suicide prevention, including surveillance to study trends and groups at greatest risk, etiologic research on risk and protective factors, program development and evaluation, and dissemination. CDC's new strategic direction in suicide prevention, “promoting individual, family, and community connectedness” will be described. The need for developmentally appropriate prevention strategies that promote connectedness at multiple levels of the social ecology will be discussed. Several of CDC's current activities in youth suicide prevention will be described.