Tasmania: a Comparison between Youth and Other Suicide

IT HAS NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED THAT YOUNG COMPLETED SUICIDES represent a distinct entity, separable from other age groups. Nor has it been determined that the younger age group represents a homogeneous group (Maris 1985; Neiger & Hopkins 1985). However, comparisons between young suicide and older suicide groups show both distinct similarities and distinct differences. An increasing risk of suicide is associated with increasing age (MacIntosh 1985), with the highest rates found among those aged 65 and over. Within the adolescent group, there is a steady increase in suicide rate from approximately 15 years of age. The risk of suicidal behaviour is significantly reduced below this age (Neiger et al. 1988). The seriousness of suicide among the older groups is largely ignored because of an increasing focus on the young. Adolescent suicide remains the age group with the lowest suicide rate (Osgood 1982). A survey of community attitudes showed that all age groups ascribed a higher risk to older people (Domino, Moore, Westlake & Gibson 1982). Marked increases in male youth suicide rates have been reported along with a slight decline in female youth suicide rates (Moens, Haenen & Van de Voorde 1988). Completed suicide is traditionally associated with a higher incidence among males (McClure 1984; Dyck, Newman & Thompson 1988; Burvill 1980; Dorsch & Roder 1983; Paerregaard 1980; Frederick 1978). While surveys have found that adolescent males do predominate