Screening Students for Suicide Risk

Update From the Office on Women's Health

Did you know suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth and young adults 10–34? If you care for young women, you have an opportunity to identify and assess suicide risk by integrating suicide screening into your practice. This is key as women are more likely than men to attempt suicide. If you are a campus health professional, the following resources can help you integrate suicide screening and prevention into your practice. For Your Practice The free Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) Toolkit by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will help you identify patients 10–24 who are at risk for suicide. The toolkit is available in multiple languages and tailored for several medical settings. If you are developing or expanding a suicide prevention program, this online coursefrom the Suicide Prevention Resource Center offers strategic planning recommendations to help you identify key risk factors, set long-term goals for the program, and implement the interventions and evaluation. On Campus Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools assists high schools and school districts in designing and implementing multifaceted suicide prevention programs that respond to the needs and cultures of students.  After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools was developed by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the Education Development Center. The toolkit helps school administrators and crisis teams plan for and implement appropriate postvention strategies to facilitate communications, support grieving students and staff, identify at-risk individuals, and more.  For Your Patients Depression often goes unrecogonized and untreated and may lead to suicide. Encourage your adolescent and young adult patients to review resources on suicide prevention and awareness, such as: Womenshealth.gov’s suicide prevention fact sheet with answers to common questions about suicide CDC.gov’s college health and safety page with tips on maintaining mental health in college  NIMH’s answers to college students’ questions about depression