We commend Secretaries Sebelius and Gates for their commitment to combating the high rates of suicide among our nation’s citizens by launching the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention on Friday, Sept. 10, 2010, in honor of World Suicide Prevention Day.

As the Alliance focuses on new strategies for suicide prevention, we urge them to strongly promote routine preventive mental health screenings for adolescents. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ninety percent of adolescent suicide victims suffer from mental illness, with 63 percent exhibiting symptoms of mental illness for at least a year before their deaths. These findings point to the considerable window of opportunity that exists for identifying and helping adolescents at risk for suicide.

Academic research has shown that early detection and treatment of mental illness reduces the risk of long-term disability and suicide. An annual depression screening for adolescents is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. These screenings are a covered service under the new federal health reform legislation.

The TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University provides free screening tools to help primary care doctors, schools and communities offer regular mental health checkups to adolescents. Annual mental health checkups can help identify teens at greatest risk for depression and suicide, and link them with life-saving help.

We are pleased to see the renewed attention and commitment to suicide prevention that Secretaries Sebelius and Gates bring with the launch of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and hope that their efforts will result in the prevention of suicide across the life span.

Laurie Flynn
Executive Director
TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups
at Columbia University

To interview Laurie Flynn or other experts about mental health screening and suicide prevention, contact Elizabeth Streich at streich@childpsych.columbia.edu.

For more information about the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, visit: http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1009092202.aspx.

The TeenScreen^® National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University is a non-profit public health initiative and national policy and resource center devoted to increasing youth access to regular mental health checkups. The TeenScreen National Center is affiliated with the Columbia University Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The National Center provides free tools for physicians and school professionals and supports screening efforts in 44 states and more than 1,000 communities through its TeenScreen Primary Care and TeenScreen Schools and Communities programs. www.teenscreen.org.

For more information:
Elizabeth Streich
streich@childpsych.columbia.edu
212-265-3174