Youth Suicide

According to the Congressional Suicide Statistics from the Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project Act of 2006:

• Suicide for Indians and Alaska Natives is 2 1/2 times higher than the national average and the highest for all ethnic groups in the United States, at a rate of more than 16 per 100,000 males of all age groups, and 27.9 per 100,000 for males aged 15 through 24, according to data for 2002;
• According to national data for 2002, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for Indians and Alaska Natives aged 15 through 34 and the fourth-leading cause of death for Indians and Alaska Natives aged 10 through 14;
• The suicide rates of Indian and Alaska Native males aged 15 through 24 are nearly 4 times greater than suicide rates of Indian and Alaska Native females of that age group;
• 90 percent of all teens who die by suicide suffer from a diagnosable mental illness at the time of death; and
• More than half of the people who commit suicide in Indian Country have never been seen by a mental health provider;
• Death rates for Indians and Alaska Natives are statistically underestimated;
• Suicide clustering in Indian Country affects entire tribal communities; and
• Since 2003, the Indian Health Service has carried out a National Suicide Prevention Initiative to work with Service, tribal, and urban Indian health programs.

The Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project Act of 2006 will accept five applications for grant money to address the problem of youth suicide in individual tribal associations. The monies will specifically be used for telecommunication technology to prevent and treat youth suicide. Overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Mental Health, this project will provide telemental services to the five grantees over a period of four years.

For more information on the Indian Youth Telemental Health Demonstration Project Act of 2006 visit: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-2245