U.S. researchers say that a troubling one-year spike in youth suicides reported last year is not a fluke and should be taken seriously.
Last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an 18 percent increase in suicide rates for Americans under age 19, reversing more than a decade of declines.
An analysis of the most recent youth suicide data and found that while rates fell about 5 percent following this large increase, they still were far higher than they should be based on historical trends. In 2004, there were 326 more suicides than expected, and in 2005, there were 292 more suicides than expected.