While boys are more likely than girls to commit suicide, teens of both genders and all ages are at risk for suicide. It is especially tragic that the three leading causes of death in teens and young adults -- accident, homicide, and suicide -- all are preventable. Parents of teens should be aware of some of the warning signs of depression and suicide.

What is suicide?

Suicide is the act of purposely ending one's own life. How societies view suicide varies widely according to culture and religion. For example, many Western cultures, as well as mainstream Judaism, Islam, and Christianity tend to view killing oneself as quite negative. One myth about suicide that may be the result of this view is considering suicide (suicidal ideation) to always be the result of a mental illness. Some societies also treat a suicide attempt as if it were a crime. However, suicides are sometimes seen as understandable or even honorable in certain circumstances, as in protest to persecution (for example, a hunger strike), as part of battle or resistance (for example, suicide pilots of World War II, suicide bombers), or as a way of preserving the honor of a dishonored person (for example, killing oneself to preserve the honor or safety of family members).

More than 800,000 people worldwide committed suicide in 2012, with many more suicide attempts annually. That translates into someone dying by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. As of 2016, nearly 45,000 people reportedly killed themselves in the United States, making it the 10th leading cause of death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The true number of suicides is likely higher because some deaths that were thought to be an accident, like a single-car accident, overdose, or shooting, are not recognized as being a suicide. The higher frequency of completed suicides in males versus females is consistent across the life span, but the ratio of men to women who complete suicide decreases from 3:1 in wealthier countries to closer to 1.5:1 in less wealthy countries. In the United States, boys 10-14 years of age commit suicide twice as often as their female peers. Teenage boys 15-19 years of age complete suicide five times as often as girls their age, and men 20-24 years of age commit suicide 10 times as often as women their age. Gay, lesbian, transgender, and other sexual minority youth are more at risk for thinking about and attempting suicide than heterosexual teens.

There are trends regarding the means of committing suicide, as well. For example, the frequency of hanging, carbon monoxide poisoning, or other forms of self-suffocation increased from 1992 to 2006, while committing suicide by a gun has decreased during that period of time and has remained unchanged from 2012-2013. As of 2016, killing oneself with a gun remains the most frequent method, followed by suffocation/asphyxiation, then poisoning. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people 15-29 years of age. Teen suicide statistics for youths 15-19 years of age indicate that from 1950-1990, the frequency of suicides increased by 300%, and from 1990-2003, that rate decreased by 35%. However, the rate of suicide increased by about 1% per year from 2006 through 2014 in individuals from 10-24 years old, doubling between the years of 2007 and 2015. The suicide rate has increased by about 2% per year from 2006 through 2014 in the 25-64 years old age groups.

While the rate of murder-suicide remains low, the devastation it creates makes it a concerning public health issue.

The rates of suicide can vary with the time of year, as well as with the time of day. For example, the number of suicides by train tends to peak soon after sunset and about 10 hours earlier each day. Although professionals like police officers, manual laborers who work in isolation, physicians, nurses, and dentists are thought to be more vulnerable to suicide than others, these findings seem to vary.

As opposed to suicidal behavior, self-mutilation is defined as deliberately hurting oneself without meaning to cause one's own death. Examples of self-mutilating behaviors include cutting any part of the body, usually of the wrists. Many people also cut themselves in places that are less visible, like on their thighs or abdomen. Self-tattooing is also considered self-mutilation. Other self-injurious behaviors include self-burning, head banging, pinching, and scratching.

Physician-assisted suicide is defined as ending the life of a person who is terminally ill in a way that is either painless or minimally painful for the purpose of ending suffering of the individual. It is also called euthanasia and mercy killing. In 1997, the United States Supreme Court ruled against endorsing physician-assisted suicide as a constitutional right but allowed for individual states to enact laws that permit it to be done. As of April 2018, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Montana (by state supreme court ruling), Oregon, Washington, and Vermont were the only states with laws in effect that authorized physician-assisted suicide, but a number of other states are in the process of considering or passing it. Physician-assisted suicide seems to be less offensive to people compared to assisted suicide that is done by a nonphysician, although the acceptability of both means to end life tends to increase as people age and with the severity of medical illness and the number of times the person who desires their own death repeatedly asks for such assistance.