Provided by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Surgeon General of the United States of America
Chapter 3: Children and Mental Health
Overview of Mental Disorders in Children
Depression and Suicide in Children and Adolescents
Treatment
Suicide
Community-Based Suicide Prevention
Indirect Case-Finding Through Education
Controlled studies have failed to show that classes for high school students
about suicide increase students’ help-seeking behavior when they are troubled or
depressed (Spirito et al., 1988; Shaffer et al., 1991; Vieland et al., 1991). On
the other hand, there is evidence that previously suicidal adolescents are upset
by exposure to such classes (Shaffer et al., 1990a, 1990b), even though this
does not necessarily lead to a suicide attempt. Such educational programs seem,
therefore, to be both an ineffective mode of case-finding and to carry with them
an unjustified risk of activating suicidal thoughts
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