Study Ties Youthful Suicides to Depression and Economic Difficulties in Later Life

Over the last twenty years there has been a dramatic rise in suicide rates especially among teens and young adults. Those who survive suicide attempt are prone to lifelong psychological troubles, claims a new finding.

The current study claims that people who attempt suicide before the age of 24 may suffer from health and psychiatric issues along with major economic problems later on in life. By age 30, theses people are at risk of developing metabolic syndrome and also greater levels of systemic inflammation, both risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The study investigated more than 1000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38. The study participants were a part of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study. They noticed that 8.8 percent of the participants claimed to have attempted suicide by the age of 24.

The researchers observed that people who attempted suicide before the age of 24 were three times more likely to get hospitalized for psychiatric problems and complained of loneliness and unhappiness.

"Their young suicide attempts aren't the cause of these troubles, nor are the troubles necessarily an outgrowth of the suicidal behavior," said Sidra Goldman-Mellor, a post-doctoral researcher in the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina. "The suicide attempt is a powerful predictor" of later-life trouble, Goldman-Mellor said. "We think it's a very powerful red flag."

Such young adults, who attempted suicide, were impulsive in nature and as children were known to suffer from depression and bad conduct. They were 2.5 times more likely to commit a violent crimes. The researchers found it challenging to trace the root of such life troubles.

Goldman-Mellor said, "Our study did control for the fact that they have more psychiatric issues, but we may have missed some other underlying factors." 

It was noticed that suicide attempts rose during the global recession. The researchers propose that the only way to prevent these later life issues would be to do follow ups and a responsive attitude to the sufferers. 

The only way to fight this is by identifying and understanding the predictive factors. The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.