Study: Suicidal Teens Rarely Receive Treatment

Few suicidal teens receive the treatment and care they need, a new study reports. The researchers found only 13 percent of teenagers with suicidal thoughts visited a mental health professional through their health care network, and only 16 percent received treatment during the year, even though they were eligible for mental health visits without a referral and with relatively low co-payments. In the study, reported in the journal Academic Pediatrics, researchers analyzed the use of health care services among 198 teens ranging in age from 13 to 18 years. Half of the teenagers had had suicidal thoughts; the other half did not. The researchers found mental health services were underused among all of the teens studied. Although 86 percent of the teens with suicidal thoughts had seen a health care provider, only 13 percent had seen a mental health specialist. Just 7 percent received antidepressants, the study found. (HealthDay News, 9/16/11)

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