In an epoch when rates of death and illness among the young have steadily decreased in the face of medical progress, the persistently high rates of youth suicide and suicide attempts around the world remain a tragic irony and a challenge to both our clinical practice and theoretical understanding. How can these deaths be prevented? Can they be anticipated? Are there perceptible patterns of risk and vulnerability? What role do families, gender, culture, and biology play? What are the treatments for and outcomes of suicide attempters? To address these questions, experts from around the world in all areas of psychiatry, from epidemiology, neurobiology, genetics and psychotherapy, have brought together their current findings in Suicide in Children and Adolescents.
