Young adults with post-traumatic stress disorder may be more likely to attempt suicide
March 2, 2009Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD—may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Approximately 421,200 to 842,400 Americans age 15 to 24 attempt suicide every year, according to background information in the article. "History of a suicide attempt has been identified as one of the best predictors of a future attempt as well as completed suicide," the authors write. Suicide was the third leading cause of death among U.S. young people in 2005.
Holly C. Wilcox, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, and colleagues studied 1,698 young adults of a group of 2,311 who had been tracked since entering the first grade in Baltimore public schools. Fifteen years later, 90-minute interviews were conducted with the participants (average age 21) to assess the occurrence of traumatic experiences, suicide attempts and the development of PTSD.
Of the participants interviewed, 1,273 (81 percent) had been exposed to a traumatic event and 100 (6 percent, or 8 percent of those exposed to trauma) developed PTSD. Suicide had been attempted by 10 percent of those with PTSD, compared with 2 percent of those who were exposed to trauma but did not develop PTSD and 5 percent of those who had never been exposed to traumatic events.
"The mechanisms involved in the association between PTSD and suicide attempts are not known," the authors write. "There could be a common pre-existing predisposition to PTSD and suicide attempts that was present before the trauma occurred. Studies of early trauma and suicidal behaviors have implicated depression and impulsivity as possible mediators or possible pre-existing susceptibility traits."
Previous research has found that up to 20 percent of suicide attempts in young people are attributable to sexual abuse during childhood, the authors note. "Although we did not focus explicitly on child sexual abuse, our results point to the need to base risk estimates of attempted suicide on data that take into account the psychiatric response to the trauma. By distinguishing between trauma-exposed persons without and with PTSD, we found that it is PTSD that is associated with an increased risk of a suicide attempt. Whether or not this finding applies to sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood should be investigated in future studies."
More information: Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66[3]:305-311
Source: JAMA and Archives Journals
-
Higher minimum legal drinking ages linked to lower rates of suicides and homicides later in life
Nov 15, 2011 |
3 / 5 (2) |
1
-
New research focuses on teenage mind
Sep 28, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Overdoses of popular painkiller send thousands to ER each year
May 03, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
The correlation between acne and social and mental health problems
Sep 20, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Are young children prone to suicide? Signs to watch for
Feb 11, 2010 |
4.3 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
Feb 08, 2012
-
Exercise and weight loss
Feb 08, 2012
-
Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
Feb 07, 2012
-
"The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Feb 04, 2012
-
Oncolytic adenovirus
Feb 04, 2012
-
Nutrition label stuffs and diets
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Overeating may double risk of memory loss
New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
5 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
5 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...
3 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 09, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (56) |
15
|
Green tea found to reduce disability in the elderly
(Medical Xpress) -- A lot of research has been done over the past several years looking into the health benefits of green tea. As a result, scientists have found that regular consumption of the beverage leads ...
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact
Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...
Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome
In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...