Study: U.S. teen suicide spike continues

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A spike in U.S. teen suicides in 2004 -- sharpest increase in the past 15 years -- appears to have persisted into 2005, researchers said.

Jeff Bridge of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus said researchers have identified what may be an emerging crisis, but the next step is to figure out why. One answer may lie in the prescription of antidepressant medication. Because of concerns over side effects, the number of teens prescribed antidepressants has dropped by as much as 20 percent.

"The vast majority of young people who complete suicide have some sort of psychiatric disorder. Most commonly depression or some mood disorder," Dr. John Campo also of Nationwide Children's Hospital said. "Kids who need the medicine most may not be getting it."

Campo said there is no proven link between the drop in prescriptions and the rise in suicides, but the fact that they happened at the same time is worth looking into.

Experts say they want to investigate if the Internet may be playing a role in the number of teens committing suicide, the researchers said.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.