Drowning young sorrows is a danger sign

A study of 32,000 teenagers aged between 14 and 17 has found that those who try to drown their sorrows with drink are at a greater risk of trying to kill themselves. Drinking while down was associated with a 68% increase in risk among teenagers who had previously thought about killing themselves. Among teenagers who had not thought about suicide drinking while down was associated with a trebling in risk. Of the 12.2% of children who did drink to drown their sorrows nearly 18% had tried to kill themselves, compared to only 3% of those who did not drink when depressed. It is often difficult to predict which teenagers will make suicide attempts so this research could be very useful in helping healthcare workers to do this.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKTRE54744T20090508?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true