WOMEN & SUICIDE












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The Canadian Situation

  • The suicide death rate for teenage men has increased four-fold from 5.3 to 23.0 per 100,000 between 1960 and 1991.

  • The suicide rate for young women also increased from 0.9 to 4 per 100,000 between 1960 and 1991.

  • The rate of suicide for youth 10 to 14 years of age almost doubled over the last 30 years from 0.6 per 100,000 to 2.4 per 100,000.

  • In 1990, suicide was the second leading cause of death for both teenage men and women.

Hospitalization

  • In 1989-90 the second leading cause of hospitalization for young women aged 15 to 19 was attempted suicide.

  • Girls 10 to 14 years of age are hospitalized for attempted suicide at a rate five times that of boys.

  • Teenage women are hospitalized for attempted suicide at twice the rate for young men.

Risk Factors

  • There are many indications that youth are having problems within relationships.

  • Fifty-three percent of young women and 37% of young men rate their lives as stressful.

  • According to several national and provincial surveys, a substantial number of young people are lonely, depressed, emotionally distressed or not happy about their lives.

  • Forty-three percent of young women 12 to 18 years of age state that they feel really depressed once a month compared to 23% of young men.

  • According to a 1990 national survey, approximately 38% of young people 13 to 16 years of age reported that they felt good about themselves.

  • Young women were less likely to feel good about themselves, 30% compared to 45% of young men.

  • Exact figures are not available regarding the number of young people who live on the streets.

  • According to one study, more than 60% of young people living on the streets in Canada leave home because of violence and abuse; on the street this violence continues.

  • Approximately 33% of boys 13 to 16 years reported that they felt self confident compared to 22% of young girls.

Sex Differences

  • In 1991 the rate of suicide for young men was six times greater than for young women.

  • Young girls are more likely to attempt suicide than young boys.

  • According to a Quebec child mental health survey, 10% of young girls and 4% of young boys 12 to 14 years of age had considered suicide in the 6 months before the survey.

  • A survey in British Columbia revealed that 20% of grade 8 girls and 13% of grade 8 boys had considered suicide in the past year.

Aboriginal Children & Youth

  • The suicide rate among Indian youth was five times that of the total Canadian population.

  • Large proportions of Aboriginal people identified unemployment, alcohol, drug use, family violence, sexual abuse and suicide as significant social problems in their communities.

The Challenge

  • We must rethink the way we work with and serve our children and youth. They are telling us that they need support, recognition, respect, and hope for the future.


Apparently. Women who have been raped are 13 times more likely than those who have not.

Women's Health in the News

Abuse, HIV Raise Women's Suicide Risk
Monday, March 28, 2005

HealthDay News

Women troubled by both are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide, study finds

MONDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- HIV infection and abusive relationships are especially tough on women, with a new study showing greatly increased risks for depression and suicide attempts in women afflicted with both these problems.

"Health care and service providers who interact with women who may be HIV-positive or are in an abusive relationship should routinely look for mental health issues, such as suicidal thoughts. It may be the case that crisis intervention is needed to help women in these situations," study lead author Andrea C. Gielen, deputy director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a prepared statement.

Reporting in the March/April issue of the journal Women's Health Issues, the researchers examined data on more than 600 women and found that abused women were four times more likely than non-abused women to have thought about suicide.

The study also found that, among women with HIV, those who were recently diagnosed thought about suicide more frequently.

Overall, 31 percent of the 611 women in the study reported contemplating suicide and 16 percent reported having attempted suicide. Half of the study participants reported problems with depression and 26 percent reported problems with anxiety.

The combination of HIV infection and a history of abuse appears especially troublesome for affected women, according to the researchers. They report that nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of abused, HIV-positive women reported problems with depression, compared with 24 percent of non-abused, HIV-negative women.

Abused, HIV-positive women were seven times more likely to report problems with depression, 4.9 times more likely to have problems with anxiety, 3.6 times more likely to have thought about suicide and 12.5 times more likely to have attempted suicide compared to uninfected women with no history of abuse.

"Given that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for women ages 15 to 44, there is a need for further research on risk and opportunities for prevention," Gielen said.

SOURCE: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, news release, March 22, 2005

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